Season's Greetings
by Silhouette Eclipse
Summary: There is going to be a terrible disaster happen in Domino City, so terrible that even the four goddesses of season don't know what to do. Racing against time, they must stop it from happening along with stopping one another from falling in love... 4 OCs
1. Caged Birds With New Wings

**First of all, I would like to say that 1. The beginning will be as confusing as heck, but bare with me! The next chapter will hopefully some clear things up. 2. This is not of my will... my friend Era Smalwill baited me into this! 3. Sadly, this is one of those fics where the author/ess adds their own OCs into the story and pairs them off with the original characters. However, I am writing this merely for the entertainment of Era Smalwill, Eloquent Nocturne, Kara Hikaru, and myself. If it makes you feel any better, you can pretend they're you, or you're them, or... you get the idea. You have been officially warned.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own YuGiOh!, however I do own my OCs. Is AU too, so I suppose I own that also.**

***MAY CONTAIN _IMPLIED _SPOLIERS IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED WATCHING THE SERIES! WHICH WOULD ACTUALLY BE PRETTY SAD CONSIDERING HOW OLD IT IS...***

* * *

_This life... my life. Time passes like the blink of an eye, each year only seeming like a mere droplet of water being added to a mighty ocean, but time seemed to stop for me five thousand years ago. Terror. Death. Chaos. At the time there was nothing I, or anyone else, could do to stop it. All I could do was sit there, wondering, worrying, and waiting. Waiting for there to be a sign that there was still hope for that world, and that maybe... I would get the chance to see him again._

"Aki(1), come on! Where are you? We do have a meeting today unless you have forgotten!"

Dammit! I completely forgot about the meeting today! This isn't good. I quickly tossed the Time Catalog(5) I had been reading on top of my dresser. I quickened my pace and made my way down the hall, where I could already hear Natsu(2) complaining about how I'm never on task. I'll admit I'm not always "on the ball" with these meetings, but you have to see it through my perspective. There is no point in going to these meetings, I had lost hope in them a long time ago. I mean, for the past five years it has been the same drill every time: we were four goddesses of season who were banned from seeing the human world, and why? We would never know for sure.

We only got a glimpse of what happened before everything went blank and the mortal world erupted into chaos. Now whatever humans are still alive (if any died of course but again, how would I know?) basically ignore our existence, but nonetheless the higher up gods still expect us to do our work and keep the year progressing forward. I guess a human like yourself would be confused at what I saying. Unfortunately, I'm not the patient type, so you'll just have to watch and learn.

My heels echoed loudly against the marble as I entered the room and saw that as usual, I was the last to arrive to the "Ultimate Meeting of Boredom", as I had cleverly deemed it. Really, don't the others get tired of doing this? I'm just going to check the Seeing Glass(6), announce how I still can't see anything, like normal, and then get back to doing something that can actually improve, like my dancing.

Around the Seeing Glass, stood the other seasonal goddesses beside myself: Natsu, Haru(3), and Fuyu(4). Standing to the left of the Glass, stood Natsu, who had her arms crossed over her chest, looking annoyed. Natsu has long, golden blonde hair and the eyes to match. Her skin was perfectly tanned and her dress complemented her tone nicely. It was a halter dress that ended at mid calf, giving off a brilliant glow with its mixture of bold oranges, yellows, and reds.

From behind the Glass, Fuyu offered me a quick, small smile, but I know she must have been getting impatient with me also. To keep it short, Fuyu was your stereotypical albino. Her straight silver shoulder-length hair, pale skin, and white hues with the faintest hint of blue in them made her seem like a ghost. When our parents first brought us together, I was scared of her because I thought she was one. Her dress drapes over her feet and the sleeves end right below her elbows. It is white with intricate silver snowflakes that surface when the light hits it just right.

On the right, Haru just gave me a blank look, as if she was oblivious to what was going on. Knowing her, she probably was. She has medium length, dark brown wavy hair, olive skin, and these beautiful violet eyes that turned a fierce red when she became angry or irritated. Her dress has a thick single strap across her right shoulder, and it ends a few inches below her knees, stained with a variety of browns and greens.

As for myself, I have long, curly auburn hair, emerald eyes, and my skin is a medium tone. My dress ends right above my knees, and the straps loop around my neck, like a necklace. The dress is a blue-green color that changes color whenever it sees fit. One minute it's blue, another it's green. Sometimes I wish it would just stick to one solid color.

The meeting room is pure white, from bottom to top, just like the rest of the rooms in this dreaded prison. Not that I have anything against white, it represents purity, but a person can only take so much of one color before they start going insane. There is a single large window on the back wall, giving off a faint light. The Seeing Glass stands proudly in the center of the room, almost touching the ceiling. We have really tall ceilings too, so you can only imagine how long it takes to clean that thing!

Natsu's radiant gold eyes bore into mine, trying to get across some unspoken message. I broke my stare to see that the others were watching me also. I figured Haru probably didn't pay much mind to it, which I was thankful for. Fuyu looked like she was a little annoyed herself, but she didn't show too much expression. It was really hard to figure out what she was thinking sometimes to people who didn't know her well.

"I'm _so_ glad you could finally join us, Aki." Natsu said with more than needed sarcasm.

"Well, you know I just _had_ to get here extra early so I could see your smiling face." I responded with equal sarcasm. Don't get us wrong, though. We all love each other like sisters, but it's nearly impossible to not get on each other's nerves every now and then. That tends to happen when you're stuck living in a maze of a "home" with three other goddesses for who-knows-how-long, and no means of escape. Except one. We had to be wanted or needed by a living being of the planet below- specifically a human.

But that was _very_ unlikely at the rate things were going.

"Mind saving the sweet talk for later? Aki really needs to hear the news now." Haru cut in. Her eyes beginning to rim with red.

"She would know the news by now if she wasn't late, as usual." Fuyu commented.

"Yeah yeah, I know. So what's up?" I asked, waving Fuyu off.

Without a word, Natsu turned away from me and held her right palm to face the Seeing Glass (A/N: Just imagine a normal crystal ball x75) and the others followed suit. Now I was starting to get nervous. The last time we were able to see through the Glass we saw... enough. It was the last time we saw anything of Earth actually. After all that, if we were able to See again... does that mean another disaster is going to occur? As if the last hadn't shaken me up enough.

I walked up to the front of the Glass and lifted my right palm like the others, closed my eyes, and allowed my mind to go blank. As an image began to emerge, I began to see what had become (or what was left of) the planet we had been blinded to. Everything was left in ruin; barely a soul was to be seen walking the torn up streets. Was the rest of the world like this? What was really strange was that I recognized this place, but hardly due to the damages done. It was right outside of the city where the disaster had originated from. Domino City, Japan. Why did the Seeing Glass bring us here, again?

In the scene before me, a lean figure was bent over in a clearing surrounded by dead, fallen trees and looking at his own reflection in a dark stream. The only light that was provided came from the full moon and the glistening stars in the sky above. The main feature that stood out about this figure were his sharp, wild spikes carelessly pointing out in different directions. Could he be...? No. He should be long gone by now... Besides, there's no way he could have survived if... I saw it with my own eyes... It's not him.

"Where can ... be? I'm feel sick... my friends, grandpa... Why?... taken away... fighting?"

I heard the figure muttering under his breath and tried to listen closer. This boy... he reminds me so much of... _him_. It's as if he never truly went away. A spitting image. But the presence just wasn't the same. That time period had passed long ago. He isn't here anymore. He's dead.

As if he had heard my thoughts, the figure quickly glanced around his surroundings before quietly standing up, reaching his full height. He tilted his head to the moon and started whispering soft, hopeful words that just barely reached my ears.

"This world is such a mess. This isn't how it was suppose to be. My friends and family are gone, they took her away from me, and Yami is gone with them. I wish so badly to be there fighting with them. Hey! If there are any gods out there that can hear me, please, help me!"

Yami? What exactly is going on here?

After that, the scene around me became engulfed in a fog. The boy was gone and I was back in the meeting room. I looked around and I saw the other goddesses were in a daze, trying to comprehend what they had just seen and somehow make sense of it. I knew what was to happen though, it was something I had been waiting for far too long. We were going to Earth!

I wasted no time exiting the meeting room and almost ran back to my room. I shuffled through my drawers and found my cell phone (don't ask why it was in there) and a wallet that had almost everything I would need for this trip: a fake I.D, credit card, and a good amount of money. Gods, human government is so easily manipulated! It didn't take much for Fuyu to break into the government's systems and create pseudo identities for ourselves. It was actually kind of fun.

I dug around in my closet in search for a new pair of golden pointe shoes that my parents had given me. They were supposed to be infused with magic so that they would never lose their shape, unlike a normal pair, which is made of paper machete and can be worn down within hours. I tossed them, along with my wallet into my travel bag and walked back to my dresser, which had a small silver jewelry box sitting on top of it. I lifted the lid and found a silver necklace, with its only asset being a four-leaf clover charm that represented my season, Spring. The other goddesses have their own necklaces like this, but their charms varied with their respective seasons; a snowflake for Fuyu, a leaf for Haru, and a sun for Natsu. Naturally.

These necklaces, besides the Seeing Glass and our magic, are necessary when traveling to Earth and back. Whenever we travel to Earth, our necklaces change our appearances so that we can "blend in" with the human race. The necklace tries to take our current appearances and then adapt them to where we don't look so outlandish to the common folk. I slipped on the necklace, and quickly threw in a few of my own outfits and conveniences into the bag and rushed back into the meeting room.

Surprisingly, I was the first one to return to the room. I waited impatiently for the others to arrive, which is new for me. Eventually, each goddess entered the room with their own luggage.

"You're the first one here, Aki? This is a nice change of pace." Natsu said smirking.

"Yeah. Maybe we should go to Earth more often." Haru commented.

"Well, I'm surprised you guys weren't here fast enough. I expected more from you." I said sarcastically.

We all laughed together, and turned to Fuyu who was reading a page out of an old spell book. After a minute, she closed the book and told us how to position ourselves for the spell. We took our respective places with Fuyu standing behind the Glass, I stood opposite of her, Haru stood on the right, and Natsu stood on the left.

Since the year began with winter, Fuyu started of her part of the chant first and then me, Haru, and Natsu. I don't know how else to explain it, but once I started reciting my part of the spell, I felt weightless and I closed my eyes. Of course the after effects of the spell wouldn't feel so good.

There was a slight change in atmosphere, so I opened my eyes, still expecting to see the white boundaries of the meeting room. Instead, I was on Earth in the middle of a big crowded city, full of people I didn't know, without a map or any clue where I was going, alone. Fantastic. I had no idea where the others were, but I figured I might as well get some sightseeing done while I have the time.

I know I was summoned here to figure out the cause of some disaster, but there's no way I could find out exactly what I need to _fix _unless I was with Fuyu, Haru, and Natsu. Therefore, it was perfectly acceptable to play around in the city.

Later on, I started to feel a little tired from roaming the city, and aggrivated because I had no idea what I was doing or wanted to do. There was a phone booth nearby so I walked in and flipped through it until I found the name of a familiar sounding hotel Haru, Natsu, Fuyu, and I had stayed in the last time we came to this city. From what I remember it was really nice so I decided to call. The receptionist lady answered in a lame fashion, but after I gave her my fake name and made the reservation for two rooms, she sounded really nice and actually a little perky. After I hung up and left the phone booth, something sparked in my mind about my name, but I couldn't place my finger on it...

Eh, I'll think about it later.

The street I was walking on became really crowded as I passed by a high school letting out kids. My pace slowed considerably, maybe hoping to find Atemu or something, but the crowd of young humans blocked my view and everyone's face began to look the same. The fact that Atemu and his 'aibou' or whatever were below average height didn't help much either. For all I know they may not even go to this particular high school. I gave up on my search sulkingly and looking back every so often until I turned the corner onto a sidewalk that seemed vacant enough to recollect my thoughts.

Besides looking for my friends, I became increasingly curious about my new appearance. It had never occured to me to look in store windows because I wanted to be alone when I saw myself. Humans may have found it weird if I just stood in front of a window staring at myself. It's not like I would have been able to see myself in full color through a window anyway.

Not long after, I came across a seemingly empty dance studio. On the door there was a sign about how the teacher was at a dance convention in America, but for some reason the door was unlocked. I took advantage of it and walked inside. It didn't look like anyone was here so I made myself comfortable in the closest dance room. I switched on the lights and I was surprised at how decent the room was. No warped floor boards, diryt finger prints or marker streaks on the mirrors, or any of those silly pictures of smiley faces some teachers use to get kids to spot in their turns. The walls were even this beautiful metallic blue.

I walked in casually and set my bags down on the floor before facing the mirror. It was quite awkward looking at this appearance of which I am not accustomed to because replacing my waist-length auburn curls, was straight chestnut brown hair layered with sideswept bangs. My formally emerald colored eyes were now sapphire blue... but I was still short. That figures. Everything about my appearance except for my cursed height! Ugh, well I guess it's a good thing I can intimidate people a foot taller than me. I looked to be around fifthteen or sixteen years old despite my height. I was wearing dark blue jean shorts, white laced cami, an unbuttoned red jacket, and black high top converse. Nothing special, but that could easily change with a quick shopping spree.

Looking around, I noticed a radio, two large speakers, and a cd rack in a corner towards the back of the room. I decide to investigate and since there didn't seem to be anyone here anyway, I might as well test out their sound system.

Picking a random cd, I placed in the little radio and was pleased to find that the first song was "Good Luck" by Basement Jaxx. I knew this song by heart so I kicked off my high tops and started dancing. It didn't take me long to lose track to my surroundings.

I was always better dancing when I didn't think about it because it always made me feel lighter and more graceful. When I dance, I go off into my own little world. I don't notice anything around me. Which is probably why I never noticed the human girl watching me until the song ended and I stopped.

The girl had short brown hair and blue eyes, only looking to be about maybe sixteen years old. I honestly didn't expect anyone to actually be here. Either she's robbing the place or... well I don't know but I'll find out anyway.

"Um, can I help you with something?" I asked, breaking the awkward silence.

The girl seemed a little startled when I spoke, but shook her head. "No, but I was cleaning while the teacher is away and didn't expect anyone to be here. Not that I'm mad or anything. Really. I walked in and watching you dance made me happy and excited. Come to think of it, you don't look familiar. What's your name? Mine's Tea, Tea Gardener."

Easy talker. Nice. "My name is _Kura_. _Kura Kaiba_. Nice to meet you."

"Kaiba..." Tea muttered under her breath. Was there something wrong with my name? When she says it like that... Ohh. Now I remember. Kaiba. That's the last name of Atemu and Yugi's main rival, Seto, who also happens to be the modern version of Set, whom Fuyu and I met in Ancient Egypt 5,000 years ago. Which reminds me I still need to _find _Yugi and Seto. Now how am I going to do that? Great. That girl is making me lose my train of thought...

"Is there something wrong?" I asked, starting to feel a little uneasy. Because of a human. The others would have a field day if they saw this...

Tea looked as if she was going to say something, when her phone started beeping. She offered an apologetic look before flipping open the device. She made no move to leave so, of course I couldn't help but overhear.

"Hello?"

"..."

"No, I'm just finishing up here. I'm still coming over today to help you study for the test on Monday."

"..."

"I don't think it's such a good idea to invite Joey tonight, Yugi. Every time he comes over, he does nothing but clean out your fridge."

"..."

"Alright, but if he starts making those annoying animal noises again, I'm leaving. I'll see you at the game shop later then."

Tea then flipped her phone shut, ending the conversation. She sighed while I foolishly grinned in delight. Tea looked back to me with a small smile that seemed forced. Habit with strangers I presumed. I just can't believe I just found Atemu through this girl. I expected it to be days before I found him or Set. Lucky me. All I have to do is get buddy-buddy with this girl and all my imediate problems will be solved. Finding them was the first goal, which I'm deeming officially accomplished since it seems like it'll be easy befriending this girl.

"A game shop seems like a pretty odd place to study." I said jokingly. My tactic is to subtlely break the ice and get as much information out of her as I can.

Tea giggled a little and said, "We're not actually studying in the game shop. My friend, Yugi, who I was just on the phone with, lives in a house connected to the back of the shop with his grandfather. They own Kame Game Shop downtown." She paused and looked suspiciously at my duffel and shoulder bags. "What's with your bags? They look a little too heavy for normal travel around the city. Are you going somewhere?"

I glanced at my bags still laying on the floor. They never felt heavy as I was walking, but I'm also used to working out. "It's nothing too extradinary. A few friends and I are just in town for a little while. We have hotel rooms, but I haven't seen any of them since we arrived. To be honest, I haven't been to Domino for years so I'm still trying to get around without getting lost haha." I said, giggling with a goofy smile.

The look of curiosity never left her face, but she did seem to loosen up a bit. "Well that doesn't seem right. It's not safe to walk around such a big city aimlessly. Don't you have a map?"

Now, don't you think if I had a map I would use it? Silly human...

"Nah, I'm not very good at maps. I don't know how long we're staying, but it shoudl give me enough time to re-adjust myself to everything." I told her confidently. I liked to roam anyway. Gives me something to do and I usually find new places I like.

"Well how about this, you seem like a really nice person so how about tomorrow afternoon my friends and I show you around? We know a lot of cool places around town you and your friends might like to see while you're here." Jack. Pot. This chick is just _giving_ me what I want. Hopefully the rest of this mission will go just as smoothly.

"That sounds fantastic. It's a Saturday so how about we all meet up here for lunch? Our treat." I said ever so pleasantly.

"Sounds like a plan. See you then!" The brunette said cheerfully before waving me goodbye.

Looks like I just made a new friend. And a human friend at that.

The higher ups must be killing themselves laughing.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

About an hour later, I found the hotel and checked in with the receptionist. She looked nervous but I could see she was trying to look like she enjoyed her job. Makes me wonder what type of person Seto is now. I thanked her as she handed me four key cards, two for each room I rented out. I made sure to tell her that if anyone came asking where I was to call my room in case Haru, Natsu, or Fuyu came here.

As soon as I arrived to my designated floor, I swiped the card for the suite and plopped face down on the nearest couch. My bags fell to the floor next to me and groaned. Questions still lingered in my mind but I was quickly falling asleep. I mean, here I am falling alseep and getting comfortable when I hsve no idea how I'm going to let the others know I'm here. I highly doubt they'll think to come to the hotel. Great. So how the hell am I suppose...

_ring...ring..._

Well. Don't I feel stupid.

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**.:Fuyu's POV:.**

Where in the world is Aki? I figured it would be common sense for her to meet us under the gazebo in the city park like we did last time we came to Domino. Though it probably would have been smarter to make sure everyone knew where to meet up at before we left in such a hurry... Maybe I should call her. Knowing her, she probably wandered into a mall or some type of dance club. Might as well give it a shot.

_ring... ring..._

"Uh... Hello?"

"Aki, where are you?"

"The hotel we stayed in last time we were here. Where are you and the others?"

"We're all at the park under the gazebo waiting for you to show up! What have you been doing this whole time?"

"... Dancing."

"Aki, did we come to Earth to dance, or did we come here to fix the future?"

"Fix the past, but before you go all psycho mother mode on me, I would like to say I did something pretty sweet while you guys sat there and played at the park."

"Which would be...?"

"I got us a date with the Pharaoh tomorrow at noon."

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

After I hung up with Aki, I informed the others and we quickly made our way to the hotel, which thankfully wasn't far from where we were at. I started to remember the hotel more as we walked through the revolvong doors. The hotel remained to have good taste like I remembered. We walked up to the receptino desk and the lady called Kura's room for confirmation. The lady handed us two card keys and told us the floor number. We all stepped into the elevator and noticed the back wall was a mirror. As a deal, we all agreed not to tell each other what we looked like, so turning around, we took the opportunity to finally look at our new appearances. Natsu was the first to make an outburst.

"OMG! I'm a ginger!"

I never thought I'd hear that statement ever come out of her mouth in a thousand years. Literally. Natsu's long gloden locks had turned a strawberry blonde, her golden eyes turned a pretty ocean blue, and she had light freckles across her nose and cheeks. She was dressed in a knee-length navy blue dress with strappy sandals that tied just above her ankles.

Haru actually didn't change very much, which is much easier for all of us if we had to find her. Her already dark brown waves turned jet black and straight for the most part. Her eyes still looked the same bold purple, but I was willing to bet that they didn't turn red when she was angry anymore. She wore a purple shirt that hung off her shoulders and a crimson tank underneath. She also wore dark washed jean capris with black flats.

Looking at myself, I saw my hair had turned to a light blonde and my eyes became a gray-blue. My skin tone became slightly more average, and my clothes consisted of a white and light blue tank top showing underneath a gray sleeveless hoodie. Other than that, I wore a gray skirt and white converse with a black star and moon on each side.

When the elevator dinged, signaling we had reached our floor, we all practically barged out and into the suite all at once. We found who I guess was Aki's human form sprawled out on the couch. I guess she was just as tired as we were from casting such a powerful spell earlier today. We left all our bags forgotten on the floor and Natsu walked over to the couch to shake Aki awake. Haru and I each took a seat on the couch opposite from Aki and Natsu. Grumpily, Aki sat up and groaned from being woken up. Rubbing her eyes she muttered a hello, and I decided to question her about our previous phone conversation.

"Okay Aki, can you please explain this 'date with the Pharaoh' you were talking about earlier? What did you do?"

For the next fifthteen minutes, we listened to Aki explain the entire scene where she had met some Tanya girl at a dance studio and how she had offered to show us around Domino. And _Kura Kaiba_? Priceless. At least the rest of us had "normal-ish" names. Or not... Mine's _Avery Haruda_, Haru's name is _Kara Hikaru_, and Natsu's is _Era Smalwill_.

When Aki finished her story, Haru looked at the group with an curious stare. Now that meant either of two things: either she was confused about the situation, or she was scheming something already. Haru may seem to be consistantly calm, quiet, and collected, but those who really know her know that 90% of her thoughts are based on tricks and childish thoughts. Luckily, the latter seemed to be pushed to the back of her mind for the moment.

"So what are we going to do?"

I sighed in relief and Aki smirked and answered her as if it was the most obvious thing, "We're going to gratefully accept her offer of course."

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**AUTHOR NOTES!**

**(1) Aki is Japanese for Spring  
(2) Natsu is Japanese for Summer  
(3) Haru is Japanese for Autumn  
(4) Fuyu is Japanese for Winter  
(5) The Time Catalog is basically a book that allows a god/ess to look back into the past and see previous events.  
(6) The Seeing Glass is a huge stereotypical crystal ball that usually allows a god/ess to see the current status of Earth. However, every now and then it will show short glimpes of the future. There will probably be another somewhere on Earth. Gotta get back somehow I suppose.**

***Please review or pm me if you have questions***

**And that, dear readers, is the end of Chapter 1. Re-edited and everything the way I want it ^_^ I know the beginning is confusing, but I encourage you to keep reading and eventually everything will come together. So, if you guys would do me a great favor by pressing that pretty little 'review button', I'd be thrilled! I promise the next chapter will be more intersting since more of the actual YGO characters are beginning to become involved and we can dive more into the main plot of this story (and possibley some_ interesting_ sub plots as well :)**


	2. Making Footprints on Humanity

**Okay so the next chapter is up (obviously) and yet... still no story from Era. This is sad. Just mainly because I'm usually the slowest of us to update (more like the slowest in our whole _group _lol) so also considering I have the busier schedule... I can't help but think _'WTH?'_ ya know? I don't mean to bash or anything, but we _did _have a deal, and it's been how many months? Long enough to write a short little chapter or two over the summer and the weekends. I know that if you have enough time to play on Tumblr, then you have enough time to write even a short, two-paragraph, baby sentence chapter. I could really care less. I just don't want to be the only one holding up their end of the bargain.**

**Btw I decided to make things a little easier for the readers since I know that it will be hard to follow the actual names and the new names of the goddesses, unless you have like a really awesome memory.**

"Blah" - original names

_"Blah" - new names_

**Easy now right? No? Well then I would suggest some flash cards.**

**Another heads up is that when I save it, sometimes the text is lazy and doesn't feel like adding a space with some of the italics (no matter how many times I fix it) so if you could, please try to ignore it if it pops up. Sorry though :(**

**DISCLAIMER: Idea and OCs, mine. YuGiOh! characters or any legal right to anything, no mine.**

* * *

**.:Natsu's POV:.**

After we discussed the next days events, we debated over who was going to bunk with who between the two suites. I guess it doesn't surprise me that Aki and Fuyu ended up rooming together. Strangely enough, those two got along famously. Though I could just imagine a them fighting over the temperature settings constantly. Aki hated the cold, and Fuyu didn't like to be hot. It wasn't as bad between me and Haru because our personal preferences weren't as dramatic as theirs. However, I had a funny feeling I was going to end up having to wake them both up sometime before noon, since there was absolutely no chance of them being able to accomplish that on their own. Haru was an early bird like me, but those two slept like rocks. Stubborn, hard of hearing, 100 pound rocks.

The next morning, I woke up around 8 o' clock with the morning sun shining on my face. Haru had woken up about an hour ahead of me and after I got dressed, we made our way down to the lobby's little cafe and ate breakfast there. We had just been making useless small talk, but this particular phrase caught me off guard and caused me to choke on my orange juice.

"Do you think the hotel's air vents are wide enough to fit a human body?"

I wiped the orange juice from the corners of my mouth and looked at her like she was crazy. And I think in this country she could actually be considered legally insane. However, she just kept that serious look on her face instead of cracking up and assuring me that she was just kidding. I was starting to wonder if she wasn't telling me something. Like if she was planning to kill someone. Or something.

"Umm... I'm not sure. Why?" I asked her. Instead of immediately answering, she looked down and stared at her eggs. She answered me in a low voice while mindlessly stirring her eggs around with a fork.

"No reason. Just asking out of curiosity."

The conversation level after that stayed at a minimum and we finished eating shortly after. Haru told me to go on ahead because she had something she needed to take care of, so I decided to leave her be and wake Aki and Fuyu up. This'll be fun...

I used the room card Aki gave me to get into their suite and made my way towards their bedroom in the back. Like my and Haru's room, there were two queen sized beds on either side of the room and it even had the same green and gold pattered wallpaper as ours did. The alarm clock on the desk separating their beds read that it was about 9:30 and it should maybe take me twenty minutes to wake them both up completely. I used to make the mistake of just waiting until they claimed they were awake and then fall back asleep five seconds later, but I've learned from that.

I flicked on the light switch and my eyes blinked a couple times trying to re-adjust to the brightness of the room. I swear those two had the cutest and funniest poses I've ever seen. Fuyu had completely kicked off the covers onto the floor (Aki must have won the temperature settings argument) and her body almost hung over the side of the mattress. Aki was flipped on her stomach and her head was buried underneath her pillow. Not to mention her body was facing the opposite end of the bed. I thought about taking pictures and using it as blackmail, but the clock was ticking and these two were going to take forever to get ready in time for noon.

Aki was a _little _less stubborn (term being used VERY lightly) to wake up so I walked over to her bed and started to shake her shoulder. Of course there was no response whatsoever, but at least she was rolled over onto her back now. I tossed the pillow on the ground and started tugging the covers off the bed to see if the unexpected chill would stir her awake, or at least conscience. Fail. On the bright side, she moved, but only to curl her body into a fetal position in an attempt to keep warm. Since the last two attempts seemed too subtle, I climbed on top of Aki's bed and started jumping on it. The only movement from her was caused by the vibration of the bed, but besides that it didn't seem to affect her at all. The thought of purchasing a blow horn and screaming in her ears passed through my mind when, as if on cue, both Aki and Fuyu's cell phones began ringing oddly at the same time. Well not exactly ringing, but vibrating softly against the table in between their beds, hardly making a sound. I started killing myself laughing when Fuyu fell completely off the bed in an attempt to grab her phone, and not much later, Aki shot up like a rocket and ran past me across her bed trying to do the same thing.

"Hello?"

They had both answered their phones in unison and made the same murderous expression when Haru's manic laughter could be heard from even where I was standing. I don't think they even noticed I was in the room, still standing on top Aki's bed, until I spoke up in the most cheery, obnoxious voice that I could make.

"Well good morning sunshines! You both have about two and a half hours to splash some water on your faces and be ready to meet Yugi, the pharaoh, and their friends, while discreetly trying to find the cause of a _fantastic_ disaster that left both this world and ours in complete peril over lunch. See you at noon!"

I heard them moan and complain behind me as I let myself out of their suite, and made my way back to my own. I found my travel bag where I had left it last night at the foot of my bed, and took out my fake I.D. _Era Smalwill_... It was an interesting name to me. Original to say the least. _Era_... it's something I'll definitely have to get used to.

Haru came in a short while later and looked over my shoulder to read the card to herself.

"_Era_ huh? My first name sounds a lot like _Kura's_. It's _Kara Hikaru_."

"Umm... which one's _Kura_ again?"

"Aki."

"Oh. Then what's Fuyu's new name?"

"I think she said it was _Avery Haruda_... or something like that."

"Okay, that's cool. It kind of reminds me of- "

"I'm a little tea pot short and stout, here is my handle, here is my spout! If you wake me UP, you'll **HEAR ME SHOUT**!" was heard in an off key melody out in the hallway, rudely interrupting our conversation.

"What the hell?" I wondered out loud. I heard something that sounded like a cross between a sneer and a giggle come from a different voice out in the hall. Gee. I _wonder_ who it could be...

Suddenly, the door burst open, revealing Aki and Fuyu while Aki shouted,"That little number was payback for you two waking us up far too early! Liked my singing? Good, because that is now on the hotel's security cameras for eternity! I shall be a Youtube sensation!"

Fuyu rolled her eyes,"Yeah, I can see it now. 'Short Freak Girl Who Screams Nursery Rhymes at Random Strangers in a Hotel While in Her Monkey Print Pyjamas.' Ah, I can just smell the comments." Taking in an big breath for extra effect. She started giggling even though she knew how Aki was going to react toward the title.

"Oh my God! I'm NOT FREAKIN' SHORT! What's wrong with you people?" Aki shouted, getting upset though Fuyu was still killing herself laughing. Poor Aki, we tease her so much about her height.

"Haha I'll steal the tape from the security room!" Haru said excitedly.

"You actually mean that, don't you?" I asked even though I already knew the answer.

"You know it!" She instantly replied. Smile evident on her face. After that, Fuyu cut in and directed the conversation to Aki.

"But really Aki... could you please change out of your PJ's? I'm not going to be seen in public with you if you don't."

**.:Outside the dance studio:.**

Why must human fashion change so frequently? Aki had seen more of the humans roam around the city yesterday than we did at the park, so she had to pretty much pick out all of our outfits. In fact, we were almost late because Aki would put together one outfit, and then someone would make a comment about how it didn't right with their hair, or the colours looked weird, and blah blah blah. In the end, I wore a bright blue, knee length dress with two thin straps over each shoulder. Aki put my hair up in a messy bun and handed me some tan sandals with lots of different straps across the foot.

Fuyu wore a long navy blue dress shirt with black leggings underneath. Her hair had to be straightened (since apparently human hair doesn't like to stay in one position overnight) and was fixed in a half ponytail. Aki also found a pair of plain black ballet flats and tossed them to her.

Haru wore a simple thick strapped red dress along with one inch black high heels, and wore her hair straight down like Aki's. She wouldn't let Aki touch her with make-up though, so they argued for a good fifthteen minutes before they realized we had a time limit. The fight was very entertaining though and I wish I had recorded it.

Aki just stuck with a simple white halter dress with gold beaded straps. The dress ended at her knees and she wore three inch gold heels to match. The only thing that stood out were her light blue tinted sunglasses. She had told us that we had to wear something somewhat nice because of the type of restaurant she was dragging us to. Which reminds me that she hadn't even told us _which_ restaurant we were going to.

We all agreed to start calling each other by our fake names to help keep it in our memories, but I decided to save a text message in my drafts folder to help me remember in case I forgot:

_Natsu (Me) = Era Smalwill_  
_Aki = Kura Kaiba (lol)_  
_Fuyu = Avery Haruda_  
_Haru = Kara Hikaru_

We stood waiting outside of the dance studio for roughly ten minutes before I could see a group of four teenagers coming towards us. If I thought we looked odd walking around together, then these guys took the cake. The shorter one was actually pretty dang close to _Kura's _height with wild tri colour spikes and vibrant violet eyes. He really does look like him... I can't imagine what's going through Aki's mind right now. The girl next to him must have been the Tea girl, considering she was the only female in the group. There were two more boys on the right, one with blond messy hair and brown eyes, and another with brunette hair styled in a strange spike and brown eyes. They were only dressed in casual clothing so I guess _Kura_ forgot to mention what kind of restaurant we were going to. On the bright side, dresses aren't too rare to find walking around in a big city like this.

"Hi Tea! Nice to see you guys could could make it. Sorry again for stealing your weekend." _Kura_ said as soon as they were in hearing range. Why is she being so formal? She's usually pretty loose when talking to strangers, or anybody. I wonder if it's because of him...

All but Tea were watching _Kura_ strangely, trying to find any trace of recognition. Of course because technically, "_Kura_" doesn't live in Domino (or on Earth for that matter) they didn't find any, however there was a funny vibe coming from the little one with wild hair, but it was only for a second. Maybe I'm just overanalyzing things.

Tea smiled and shook hands with _Kura_, "It's no problem, I'm the one who suggested it anyway."

"And ya promised us free food!" the blond in the group shouted. Everyone laughed and Tea sighed.

"I'm guessing that's Joey." _Kura _said. I kinda wish Aki had told us she knew their names. I feel so clueless.

"Yeah... Just ignore him okay? Everyone else does." Tea said with a smirk. The rest of her group smiled, but Joey apparently didn't take the comment very well.

"Hey! What'cha mean by that? I was just sayin' that ya told us that they were buyin' lunch." Apparently this guy is the clown of the group. He will get along very well with us_._

"_Anyway_, if Joey's done complaining, then I want you guys to meet Tristen," she pointed to the guy with the brown spike, "and Yugi." Tea pointed the wild haired boy and I swear I could practically feel a connection between him and Aki. Maybe that talk with Haru at breakfast has my thinking all messed up. At least I hope so. I really_ really_ hope so.

"Hello. It's nice to meet all of you." Aki said, still being far too formal for my liking. "I want you guys to meet my friends, _Avery_, " Aki pointed to Fuyu, "_Kara_, " She continued pointing to Haru, "and _Era_." She said finally pointing to me. I nodded in acknowledgement and Haru tapped me on the shoulder when Tea and Aki started talking about lunch details and other stuff.

"Do you feel the bad vibe too?" She whispered in my ear so that Fuyu wouldn't overhear. I guess I was right if she felt it too.

"Yeah. We're going to have to talk to her when this is over." I whispered back.

"Do you really think she'll tell us everything this time? Last time, she gave us limited information. All we know is 'when' and 'who'. She hasn't yet elaborated on 'what' or 'why' and I'm pretty sure she's tampered with the Time Catalog, because whenever I get to around that time period, it's fazed and you can definitely tell magic was used to warp it." She whispered more urgently, and I had to admit she had a point.

"I don't know. Maybe if we tell her that we'll understand and won't judge her then maybe she'll confide in us."

"We tried that last time. She said that it was unimportant and that we should drop the subject. If a human is shaking her up this much then I doubt it's 'unimportant'. Something happened, but she doesn't want to tell anyone. I have a feeling Fuyu might know what happened too, but it's only a guess..." Haru said, more to herself than me. I didn't even get a chance to respond before _Kura_ turned to us and asked if we were ready to go.

**.:Haru's POV.:**

Aki dragged us down two blocks to a nice-looking restaurant called '_The Vine'_. There were both people dressed nicely and casually, so I'm pretty sure no one felt out of place. Except me. I hate dresses and I'm not a very big fan of heels either. I only wore them because Aki told me we had to look nice for the restaurant. Now that we're here and Yugi and the others are wearing jeans... I'm jealous of them. I wish I could be wearing jeans right now...

Aki walked up to the podium, confirmed her reservation, and a waiter was sent to show us to our table. We sat at a large table that miraculously fit all eight of us without anyone fighting over seating arrangements. The waiter handed out our menus and told us he would be back to take our orders in a few minutes. At first, there wasn't much conversation because everyone was trying to decide what they wanted to order, so it felt kind of awkward. After the waiter came back and took our orders, though, Tea started _really_ talking. She and _Kura _were the main ones talking, while everyone else made side comments and made appropriate responses depending on the subject. I knew Aki would probably remember most of it anyway so I kind of zoned out for most of the conversation. The only time I willingly paid attention to the conversation was when I overheard the three guys talking about a game I partically had an interest in.

"So Yug, is there any chance your grandpa has that new game, _Rune Factory Frontier_, in stock? I heard that game was awesome!" the blond, Joey, asked Yugi.

"YOU play Rune Factory?" I jumped up out of my chair and shouted, causing the entire restaurant, including the employees, to stop and stare at me. It was awkwardly silent and I had everyone's eyes on me, so I sat back down in my seat. In a few seconds, everyone turned away and returned to their previous conversations, except for our table. Everyone kept stared at me until Aki, Fuyu, and Natsu broke out laughing, everyone else copying after them.

"Wow _Kara_, did you have to announce that to the entire restaurant?" _Era _asked when the laughter died down. I hadn't _meant_ for the entire restaurant to overhear, it just... happened.

"Yeah, whatever." I mumbled under my breath. Luckily, two waiters came by carrying our food on trays, so I was saved from further smart-ass comments for the time being.

**.:Fuyu's POV:.**

This whole time, I knew this was a really bad idea. I knew it the second he popped up in the vision and Aki rushed out of the meeting room to start packing. I know it isn't really _him_ with us right now, but he's enough to give me an all around bad feeling. I'm the only one out of the four of us who knows what happened between _him _and Aki about five thousand years ago, but only by pure coincidence and really bad timing. Tonight when Haru and Era have fallen asleep, I'm going to have to talk to Aki alone. This could get dangerous for the both of us, especially her. I know that he's suppose to be the host for the Pharaoh, but I also know that the Pharaoh doesn't remember anything about his past. However, it is possible that he may eventually recognize us and I know that, that would not do anyone any good. It will make it harder for us to leave Earth, and we can't live on Earth. If we could live on Earth, trust me, we would, but we can't without seriously risking our immortality. The Twins(1) would zap us mortal in the blink of an eye.

Strangely, whenever I try to read about Yugi and the Pharaoh in the Time Catalog, it isn't as detailed about how Yugi got the Millennium Puzzle as it usually is (another thing I'm going to have to ask Aki about) so I asked him myself.

"So Yugi, where did you get that Puzzle from? It looks kind of old." Aki's eyes widened when she looked at me as if to say, _'Why did you have to ask THAT?'_, but I ignored it. Besides, the whole point of this lunch date thing was to try and get some information and try to piece together why the world was put in so much destruction, and we had been doing nothing but talk useless small talk.

Yugi was caught off guard with my question so he hesitated to answer, "Well, my grandfather brought it back from one of his expeditions to Egypt and gave it to me, saying that if I put the pieces together, then the Puzzle would grant me one wish. I've kept it with me ever since."

"So it was in pieces when your grandfather gave it to you?" I asked immediately. I could tell Aki wanted to kill me for bringing this up, but she'll have get over it.

"Uhh... yeah it was. Do you know something about the Millennium Puzzle?" He asked. He seemed really interested in my response, so I'm guessing he has a psychological connection, or mind link with the Pharaoh, meaning they're probably communicating with each other right now.

"Not really, just a little curious." I replied. The look in Yugi's eyes told me that he knows I know more than I'm putting out. If only I could figure out what he and the Pharaoh were saying.

Only a few seconds passed and Joey had changed the subject, this one no lighter. "Sorry to change the subject guys, but there's somethin' that's been on my mind for a while now."

No one spoke so he continued, "_Kura_, is it true that you really are a Kaiba?" Everyone's eyes turned to _Kura _and she answered in a slightly confused tone.

"Umm... yeah. That's my last name. Why?" Honestly, I was sort of worried he would say something else. Why does he care what _Kura's_ last name is?

He hesitated and wouldn't look _Kura_ in the eye, "That's all I needed to know. You'll have to excuse me." Still not looking anyone in the eyes, Joey pushed his chair from the table, muttered a sorry under his breath, and walked out the restaurant doors.

Everyone at the table was left speechless, especially Kura. No one has ever walked out on her before and I could tell she was upset. Tea shook her head and Yugi had his mouth hanging open from surprise. Tristen had a disappointed look on his face that told me he had done something like this before. Which I still don't understand. Sure, I know that Seto Kaiba is Yugi's main rival, but you don't see him walking out on other people with the same last name. Seriously... what's with that guy?

"Don't worry about him, I'll handle this." Tristen said and slid out of the booth, following Joey's path out the restaurant.

_Kura _still looked depressed so Yugi put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump slightly at the touch, "Don't take it personally, he hasn't had any fond memories with Kaibas lately. Just let Tristen talk some sense into him and he'll be fine."

If I knew Aki, then I could tell she was probably having some seriously mixed feelings right now. And I know Aki _very _well. Her depression had faded with the touch and soothing words, so she eased up some and looked up from her plate to Yugi.

"But why did he have to act that way? I haven't done anything to him, have I?" Kura asked him.

"No, it's probably because you look a lot like Seto kaiba. Your hair and eyes are almost exactly the same colour and the way you're dressed probably brought back some bad memories for him. I have to admit that Seto isn't exactly the warmest person, but you're not like him. For all we know, you may not even be related to him, but just have the same last name." Yugi explained, his hand never leaving _Kura's_ shoulder.

_Kura _thought for a minute or two, probably trying to remember if she had added herself into the Kaiba family tree or not. "I'm not sure if I'm related to him, but I do know that I haven't done anything to Joey to make him so upset with me. That kind of ticks me off." _Kura _said bluntly.

"You always have thought that way..." Yugi mumbled. All of our eyes, including his, popped up when he stopped.

"What did you say?" _Kura_ asked urgently. My heart was racing. I didn't expect _him_ to remember us _that _fast!

"I... don't know. It just kind of slipped out of my mouth. Sorry." He said, looking embarrassed. His cheeks were flushed cherry red and his face went into deep concentration, trying to find the reason for saying what he had. Poor human.

"So what about this Seto guy, what's he like?" _Kara _asked from across the table. Yugi snapped out of his faze, and faced _Kara_.

"I'm not exactly sure how to describe him... umm... let's just say he's a really competitive guy who's obsessed over defeating me in a duel."

"You mean the card game, _Duel Monsters_?" I asked. I had seen some kids playing that game on the side of the street while we were walking toward the restaurant. Or at least I hope it's the same game.

"Yeah, that's the one! He challenges me every now and then, trying to reclaim his title as "Champion", and he usually always torments Joey. The main reason he doesn't like Kaibas." Yugi explained. At least it makes a little bit more sense now. Though I don't think I would go as far as hating other people automatically if I didn't know them personally.

"And because Kaiba always beats Joey in Duel Monsters..." Tea added. Both she and Yugi paused, recalling memories of Joey's repeated failures and Kaiba always walking away right after a match, refusing to even acknowledge him as a real duelist.

"So... he's really that mad... over a card game? Seems kind of second grade to me." _Kura_ commented. Again with a mouth of no restraint. I swear one day that big mouth is going to get her in trouble. And I will laugh.

"You've never played Duel Monsters before have you?" Yugi asked. _Kura _shook her head and Yugi sighed, "Well it really makes you think. You have to find a balance in your deck and when you lose to your opponent, it can be really upsetting." _Kura _still looked kinda confused, so I decided to put it in terms even Kura would understand.

"Basically he means like if you were in a dance competition and you lost to the other team, over and over again. You would be mad right?" I said slowly because sometimes Kura is a little hard of hearing. This time she nodded in understatement and I knew it was sincere. She didn't like to lose. To her it was like cancer, the memory would have to be forcefully removed from her system before she got over it.

"You know I could teach you if you'd like. It really isn't as hard as it looks. Plus, my grandpa owns a card shop so we could build you a whole new deck." Yugi offered. It was a sweet gesture, but I don't think...

"That sounds interesting. I like trying new things, but I do have to warn you I'm not very good at card games." _Kura_ blurted out before I could even finish a thought. I hadn't even gotten to making up an excuse yet...

"But _Kura_, I thought you wanted to go shopping." _Era_ said. Perfect! _Era_ finally had a good idea and put it into action. Go ginger!

"Yeah, I thought you were planning to have a big shopping spree while we were visiting." I quickly added. Why hadn't I thought of this sooner?

"Oh yeah..." _Kura_ mumbled under her breath.

"Well maybe some other time then. How long are you guys staying in Domino?" Yugi asked. He really did seem disappointed. I almost felt guilty, but we needed to discuss some things before we made on-the-spot plans with someone we just met. Much less this specific kid.

"We're actually not sure. It depends on certain things." _Kura _admitted. In all honesty, we really did have no clue how long we would be staying here. It's kind of a scary thought.

"Like what?" Tea asked curiously. Did we even think about what we would tell people if they asked this question? If so, then I didn't get the memo.

"Well... there was uhh... really bad termite damage in my house and a pipe busted in _Kara's_ basement that flooded her entire house, so we all decided to wait here until the damages were fixed. We don't know when everything will be finished so it depends how quickly the job is done when we go home." _Era _blurted out. It's a good thing she's good at making things up on the spot. Or is it?

"Oh, I see... Well I hope your houses are alright. That must be terrible." Tea empathised. I felt bad about us having to lie to her, but what else could we do? I highly doubt telling them, _'We're here to find the cause of the world's destruction' _will be very believable. We might as well be saying, _'We've come to steal your sheep' _or something like that.

**.:Haru's POV:.**

To be honest, I hadn't really paid much attention to the conversation after Joey stormed out the restaurant. I know it sounds bad, but my mind was on other things. I didn't want to tell anyone yet, but I feel like we're being followed, and I'm pretty sure it's not just my imagination. Last night, I heard something that sounded like breathing in the hotel. This morning I woke up a little earlier than _Era _and checked everywhere in the room for somewhere somebody might hide. My only guess would be from above, where someone could easily sneak in and out without worrying about creaky doors are being seen if someone woke up. Therefore, the only place I could think of being capable for that purpose would be an air vent. I'll have to check it out later when we get back to the hotel suite.

Shortly after _Era _told Yugi and Tea about the apparent 'house incident', we left the restaurant and ran into Tristen and Joey shortly after. Joey had apologized and promised to get to know _Kura_ better before judging people. Or something like that. Again, I had other issues on my mind.

Like they promised, Yugi and his friends called a taxi and showed us a lot of different things around the city. I'm pretty sure there was something to keep us all occupied here. There were some dance studios, a gym, and some malls I knew _Kura_ would like. There was a little strip mall that majorly sold art supplies and a lot of pretty scenery, so _Era_ would be happy. I heard _Avery _squeak when we passed by some electronic stores and workshops, so she was taken care of, but I really didn't see too much for me in this city. At least until we made our last stop. To an arcade!

It wasn't like any other arcade with the crappy games no one wanted to play either! There were some really awesome games here like DDR (not for me but it's still cool), Halo, Guitar Hero, Deal or No Deal, and PacMan! I'm sure there were many other cool games, but this place was so big I don't think I could remember them all if I tried! My first choice would have been to play one of the other games, but _Kura _insisted on seeing what was going on with the huge crowd surrounding the DDR game. Figures.

Lucky for me, only _Kura _and Tea actually wanted to go, so I ended up being lead to an air hockey table, watching as Joey and Tristen started a game. They played like four times in a row before I started to get bored. Right now, Joey had won two games, and Trsten had won two games. I hadn't noticed before, but I was the only one still standing here watching them play. Everyone else had gone in their own direction. I didn't really know where eveyone else went (except for Kura and Tea, but I didn't really want to go over there) so I waited for their fifth game to end, Joey ending up being the winner.

"Hey, can I play?" I asked them. They seemed so concentrated on their game that they forgot for a second that I was there. Tristen offered me his spot, and Joey got the game ready.

"Don't cry when ya lose." Joey said confidently. Maybe he didn't know it, but I was _very _good at games. I was the only one in our group who really was. And I was a goddess. I have the upper hand.

"You should be worried about yourself." I shot back. Maybe I should play with him for a little while before I really get serious. And yes, I do get _very_ serious about gaming.

Hehe... I almost feel kinda bad for crushing a harmless human in an arcade game. Almost.

**.:Natsu's POV:.**

I'm ready to leave. Not really ready in particular to leave Earth yet, but I kinda just want to get back to the hotel and relax for a while. _Avery _and I have kinda been roaming around aimlessly for a good twenty minutes now and I'm bored. About five minutes later, I heard a crash and _Avery _shook my shoulder roughly and pointed animatedly towards the DDR game across the room. There was some dark skinned freak with dread locks about to throw a chair at someone. Apparently, he doesn't take losing too well, but... OH MY GOD THAT'S AKI! Aki was in a defensive position waiting for the impact of the chair while the maniac was yelling at her as if he was on fire. _Avery_ told me to go find _Kara_, and when I did we ran as fast as possible to the DDR to make sure that freak hadn't hurt Aki. Things would not be good for him if he touched her. She's like a sister to all of us, and if you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us. And you do NOT want to mess with four goddesses.

We shoved our way through the shouting crowd up to the front. Aki seemed calm, but she held her ground. The crowd was screaming like crazy. Most were calling the dread locks guy crazy, and then there were the equally insane ones encouraging him to throw the chair. The guy seemed to be holding the chair longer to get the crowd going. I hate impulsive people like this. Doing crazy things only for attention. How low...

"Nobody defeats Johnny Step without a fight!" the dread locks guy screamed, working up the crowds screaming and cheering. Where the hell was the management?

"It's not my fault if you have two left feet! This whole time I saw you cheating your way to victory. In my book, that makes you even more pathetic than when you acually tried, which was only for about the first ten seconds!" Aki screamed nearly as loud. She was good when it came to arguements. Especially when the person fighting her was a flamboyant moron.

"Johnny Step does NOT have two left feet! Johnny Step is the best damn dancer in the entire city of Domino." Johnny gloated. Great. So not only is he a flamboyant moron, he talks in third person too! This guy really needs some help...

"_Johnny Step_is a coward who can't even talk right, much less dance decently without acting like a total spaz and _'accidently' _bumping into his opponent the moment he realizes he is losing. And that, to me, is not a very good show of dance skills... or lack there of." She said slowly, as if she was talking to a four year old. She might as well been.

"That's it! I'm taking you down, Johnny Step style!" Johnny screamed. He threw the wooden chair and Aki ducked down and rolled under where the chair would have landed and came out into a side sweep, knocking Johnny No Step flat on his butt. There were 'ohhs' and laughter coming from the audience, even from Haru, Fuyu, Joey, Tristen, Yugi, Tea, and me.

Aki tossed the chair off the platform and looked to the crowd. "Is there anyone in this crowd who can act like a decent human being and play a fair game?" Aki asked over the crowd. Everyone went silent at her question and stared, waiting for someone else to speak up. She stared intensely at the crowd, daring them not to answer.

"Are really none of you capable of playing fairly? You know behaviour like this is exactly what is going to tear this world apart. If your friend asked if you were trustworthy, what would you say?" Aki spoke out angrily. Like earlier, the crowd stayed mostly silent besides some whispering. I swear Aki was about to blow up, when Tea broke away from the group and confidently stood on top the platform next to her.

"Let's just leave, _Kura_. You won anyway." Tea said, turning to Johnny No Step, who was just recovering from Aki's kick. "Get out of here Johnny, I can't believe your still causing people this trouble." Believe it or not, he left without a word and went who-cares-where. They seemed to know each other, so I could only guess how long he had really been cheating people at this arcade game. Still sounded pretty low to me, but who knows, maybe there is some sappy backstory behind him. Or maybe he was dropped on his head growing up.

**.:Back at the Hotel in Fuyu's POV:. **

"Man they gave us a really long list..." Aki said, straing at the semingly endless pieces of paper. Tea had given us a list of shops and their addresses around the city in case we needed to go 'grocery shopping', as she put it. I'm not really sure which stores sell what so I guess we'll find out tomorrow. Era said something about renting a car in the morning. That sure beats paying a bunch of money for a taxi.

"It sure is. That's one of the bad things about being in a city this big. There are a lot of stores and shops." I replied.

"And a lot of people." Aki added.

"That's what makes the city big Aki." I said sarcastically.

"Whatever. I was just making an observation." Aki pouted.

"An obvious one." I mumbled.

_"An obvious one." _Aki mocked in a squeaky voice. Sometimes I forget that Aki is thousands of years old and not ten.

"Wow. Anyway we have to talk." I said in a more serious tone. She looked at me with a slightly curious look, but I had a feeling she knew exactly what I was going to ask about.

"We need to talk about you and Yugi. You realize he isn't Atem right?" I asked. Aki started looking uncomfortable and lowered her tone a little.

"Yeah I know, but Atem is there. I can just sense it. The resemblance is uncanny." She said with enthusiasm.

"But he doesn't remember anything, remember?" I reminded her. Not that she needed reminding.

"I know, but I'm sure in time- "

"We don't want him to remember." I cut her off.

"What? Why not?" Aki said, her eyes widening.

"Because the moment he remembers you, then Yugi will know about us and who we are. Yugi is human." I explained.

"Atem was human too. And so was Seth. I know you remember Seth." She shot back with a serious expression.

"Yes, yes I remember Seth. But the Twins have made their laws..."

"The Twins made those laws long before we went to Egypt five thousand years ago. We didn't get caught then." Aki fought. I can't believe she isn't seeing how bad this situation could get. She usually has common sense and compromises things, but when she has her definite opinion, it's either her way or the highway.

"And we were extremely lucky we didn't get caught then. I know how you feel, but I think it's best for us to just do what we came here to do and leave. It'll be best for the both of us." I tried to reason. Thankfully, she took a moment to think about it.

"I-I just don't know Fuyu. Normally I don't care for humans much, but Atem was different. Just as Seth stood out among other humans to you." Aki said. Figures. Her stubbornness was starting to get on my nerves. Especially since it's been a long day.

"Yes, I understand that, but let me put it this way, if Atem does remember you and then Yugi finds out about us, and then the Twins find out that they know, then we could all die and Earth would really be screwed. Do you really want that?" I asked her. I have to make her understand before I go insane.

"I guess not..." Aki mumbled. I could tell she was really upset, I was too, but we just couldn't risk it.

"I'm sorry Aki, but at least you'll still get to see him." I tried to comfort her. She took a sudden interest in the floor and I knew what she was thinking. Yugi wasn't or could ever be Atem in Aki's eyes.

"No I won't. I guess I was just being silly. Can we go to bed now?" She asked looking toward our bedroom.

"Yeah. Natsu will probably wake us up early tomorrow." I agreed.

"Unless Haru beats her to it." Aki said jokingly, trying her best to brighten the mood again. It didn't really change anything, especially on her part, but it was progress.

* * *

**And that my friends... is the end... of chapter two. So sorry about lateness, but you know school, dance, dance team... it takes up a lot of my time :( Still waiting on you _Era_. Next chapter coming up soon. **

**(1) The "Twins" are kind of like... Life and Death. They're kind of like the overall rulers of the gods and goddesses and the Earth (yes there are more than just our heroic heriones) and they have potiential for being in later chapters, but _much _later. Btw this was a last minute idear so please excuse the lack of creativity...**

**Also, I did not plan on this chapter being so long and I don't want you to expect them all to be this long though it is possible for it to happen again. I normally don't write this much but this story just has so much potiential, I guess I can't help myslef :)**


	3. Getting the Hang of Things, As They Say

**Okay so this is basically a quick little filler chapter I wrote because I was bored in class (complete shocker I know) and I got this idear! Compared to the other chapters, this one is pretty short, but I hope it will be enough to satisfy you until I finish the next chapter (which shall be longer and better.)**

**DISCLAIMER: I no own anything but this fic idear and my beautiful OCs. The YuGiOh! characters and anything related are not mine. I also do not own Wal-Mart. If I did then I wouldn't be wasting my time on here. JK :p **

**Warnings: Umm... no spoilers here. The goddesses however, are a little dumb in the beginning of this chapter ^^;**

**Key:**

"Blah" - original name

_"Blah" - new name_

* * *

**.:Normal POV:.**

"Okay so where are we going again?" Aki asked, shifting uncomfortably in the leather seat of the rental car.

"Well according to this GPS, it's called 'Wal-Mart'." Natsu said glancing at the little device for confirmation.

"So, what do they sell there? Like walls or something?" Aki asked. Look of confusion on her face evident.

"Umm... I think it's more of a general store. With like food, and drinks, and stuff." Natsu replied, unsure of her own answer, but knowing it was probably a lot closer than Aki's guess.

"Weird name..." Aki mumbled.

"Do you have the list?" Natsu asked as she pulled into the parking lot, which was already packed with ongoing shoppers.

"Uhh..."

"I have it." Fuyu confirmed from the back seat.

Natsu nodded and pulled into an empty parking space near the middle of the over sized parking lot. All four of the goddesses got out of the car and walked up to the entrance.

"So where's the handle?" Haru asked, seeing as there was no knob or bar on the door to pull at. She stepped up to the door to get a closer look, and yelped when the double doors slid open by themsleves.

"Oh my gods! It moved by itself!" Haru screamed, causing a few people to stare at them.

"Do you think it's magic?" Fuyu asked curiously.

"It doesn't have the same presence as magic." Aki observed. Looking closer, she noticed a bright yellow sticker in the corner of the glass and read it out loud. "Automated Doors. In case of emergency, manually push doors open."

"What's 'automated' mean?" Haru asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I have no idea." Natsu stated, Fuyu nodding in agreement. They watched as the trick doors closed themselves, still finding the unexplained action magical. They looked toward an identical pair of double doors on the left, and watched them open on their own again when an elderly man with a shopping cart exited the store. The four stared at the old man and then back at the moving doors and watched them close yet again by themselves.

"I guess we just walk through?" Fuyu offered. Uncertain, the girls slowly took one step toward the double doors, waiting for them to open like they had before, but they remained closed. They just stood there confused, while a middle aged couple walked past them and through the doors, which opened for them automatically.

"Maybe you need a secret password." Aki thought out loud. Natsu pondered for a while and got an idea.

"Let's just wait until the next humans open the doors and then run through before they close. We'll have to be quick though because I think the doors will only stay open for a few seconds."

The other three nodded their heads in agreement and waited for the next person to enter the store. Just a moment later, a small group of teenage girls began walking toward the store's entrance.

"On the count of three." Natsu informed everyone. The automated doors had just opened and the group began walking inside.

"THREE!" Aki shouted and the four goddesses sprinted through the doors past the teenage girls, causing them to scream out of surprise. Once everyone was in, they watched as the doors slid soundlessly behind them.

"That was close." Aki commented.

Fuyu pulled out a piece of folded loose leaf paper from her pocket and started analysing the items listed on it.

"Okay, the first thing on the list is- what is that?" Fuyu asked, distracted by a little television set hanging from the ceiling in the front of the store. It seemed to follow the movements of the goddesses like a mirror. The group shifted to the left, the little television reflected their movement and shifted their reflections in the same direction. They came back to their original position in the middle and the little screen re-adjusted the reflection back at the same time.

"Why can I see myself in that little box?" Fuyu asked, looking at the screen with curiosity. She twitched her hand only to see that her reflection in the screen twitched had its hand also.

"Maybe it's like the security cameras in the hotel." Natsu offered.

"But the security cameras at the hotel didn't have a little box that let you see yourself." Haru reminded her.

"Maybe it wants to take our picture." Aki said. The other goddesses looked at her, waiting for her to explain her reasoning. "Well doesn't it remind you of like a photo booth? In a photobooth, you can see yourself so you know what you look like in the picture before it prints it out I think." Aki paused momentarily, waiting for the information to sink in, "I bet if we ask an employee later, they'll give us the pictures so we can frame it and take it home."

"Kinda makes sense I guess." Fuyu said, not sure about Aki's suggestion, but not knowing what else to believe.

"Maybe..." Natsu said in a low voice, not sure herself. She figured Aki was probably wrong, but she couldn't think of anything that could possibly explain what the little box contraption was.

"So do we just pose and it will take our picture?" Haru asked, still moving random body parts and watching the little box mimic the same movements simultaneously.

"Worth a shot." Aki said, linking her arms with Haru and Natsu next to her. All four girls linked arms with each other and smiled wide, waiting for the flash of a camera. They held that pose for about half a minute before other peoples' stares gave them a feeling something wasn't right.

"So why isn't it taking our picture?" Haru asked.

"Maybe it just doesn't have a flash?" Aki offered.

"Well we don't have time to wait for it. We need groceries." Fuyu said, reminding everyone of the reason they made the trip here in the first place.

"Right. So what's first on the list?" Natsu asked, trying to read over Fuyu's shoulder.

"Well, it just says food and drinks, so I guess we'll just go to the food section and pick whatever." Fuyu said. The girls were about to walk off when Haru suddenly turned around and ran towards the carts.

"What are you doing Haru?" Aki asked. Without answering, Haru got onto one of the electric scooters and flicked a switch. Unfortunately, that switch caused her to go backwards and hit a wall, so she flipped the switch the opposite way and drove her way back to the group.

"This is so much fun!" Haru said excitedly. Fuyu and Natsu sighed at her childish behavior, Aki just giggled.

"Nice." Aki commented holding her thumb up.

"We'll probably need one of those bigger carts anyway. Could you grab one Natsu?" Fuyu asked.

"Sure." Natsu said, grabbing a cart. The girls began making their way towards the food section of the store, thanks to the very helpful signs with arrows telling them where each section was located.

In a matter of twenty minutes, the shopping cart was almost overflowing with the many groceries the goddesses claimed they 'had to have'. Thankfully, the groceries involved an even amount of healthy food, as well as junk food and soda drinks.

"Hey Fuyu, can you grab that Hershey's bar?" Haru asked, though there was plenty enough chocolate already in the cart.

"Umm... I guess so, but after that we have leave because I think the cart will collapse on itself if we add any more." Fuyu said. She went to grab the chocolate, but quickly threw it on the ground and screeched, causing other customers to stop their browsing and stare.

"Oh my gods! It's a cockroach! Somebody kill it, kill it, kill it!" Fuyu screamed while spaztically stomping her foot down after the poor pest. She continued to chase after it with murderous intentions until the little vermin made its escape through a crack in the wall.

"Way to go spazzy." Aki said while clapping her hands together in a show of mockery.

"Oh shut up. Let's go." Fuyu grumbled.

"By the way, how long did you make the hotel reservation for Aki?" Natsu asked.

"Well, the receptionist said that we had this week and then we could decide if we want to extend our visit, but to be honest, I really don't like staying in a hotel. I think it would be better for us to rent like an apartment or a house or something." Aki admitted.

"Yeah I get what you're saying. The rooms aren't very spacious at all. Maybe we could even find one with four bedrooms." Natsu said enthusiastically.

"I don't think we could find an apartment with that many rooms, a house maybe, but apartments are less expensive." Fuyu added.

"That's true... Who wants to sleep on the couch?" Aki asked. The group stayed silent.

"Well we have more than enough money, why can't we just get the house?"Haru asked.

"Let's just look around and see what's on the market. Maybe we'll find a smaller house that happens to have four bedrooms. Or at least rooms we could turn into bedrooms." Fuyu offered.

"Alright then. Let's look on the way back to the hotel. We don't have anything too cold so we have some time." Aki said happily. The others nodded their heads in agreement, except for Haru.

"But I don't want to leave yet!" Haru whined. She had obviously grown a fond attachment to the electric scooter.

"Come on. I'm sure we'll run out of food eventually. Especially if Aki eats as fast as she usually does." Fuyu assured her with a giggle.

"Hey! I don't eat fast! You eat too slow." Aki retaliated, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Sure sure." Fuyu said still smiling. The girls started to make their way to the cash register with a grumbling Aki trailing behind.

At the cash register, Fuyu and Natsu helped to take out the groceries while Haru went to put the electric scooter back where she had gotten it, and Aki wondered off to the little clothing section.

"Who buys this crap? Whoever buys this stuff must be either blind or really cheap. I've seen hobos wear cuter stuff than this!" Aki said a little too loudly. There were three pre-teen aged girls in the same section who consciously looked at the Miley Cyrus shirts they were holding in thier arms and slowly put them back down, hoping no one had seen them. Aki snickered when she saw this and Fuyu called her over before she could say anything else.

"It's time to go. Come on slowness!"

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

After the groceries were stuffed into the back of the car (literally), the goddesses drove through a couple of neighborhoods in search of vacancy. They had visited four apartments and three houses that had some potential. The girls weren't as hopeful anymore and were starting to get irritated, but Haru pointed out a medium sized, two story house that had just been put up the house on the market.

"Let's go check that one out."

"Alright, but after that, that's it for today. I want to just relax today and maybe go check out some of the city." Fuyu said in a monotone voice. They really were starting to get tired.

Natsu parked the car in the driveway and the group walked up to the door and knocked, waiting for someone to answer. Almost immediately, footsteps were heard and the door opened up to a middle aged woman with brown hair tied back into a neat bun. She looked to the four girls with suspicion.

"Umm... can I help you ladies?" The woman asked.

"How many bedrooms does this house have?" Fuyu asked, getting straight to business. She didin't care about formalities when she irritated.

"It has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, one upstairs and one downstairs. How old are you girls?" The woman asked curiously.

"How much is this house?" Natsu asked, ignoring her question.

"The owners are asking for about $659,000." The woman said skeptically.

"We'll take it." Aki said, looking at the layout.

"What? You four are going to buy this house?" The woman asked with pure shock and skeptisism.

"Oh, we thought we could just rent this place..." Fuyu mumbled.

"So what? Let's just get it. This probably as close as we'll get to what we're looking for anyway. Plus it's already furnished." Aki said.

"What do you care if it's furnished or not? By tomorrow, you will have redecorated anyway." Haru cut in. Aki just waved it off.

"Ugh, whatever, let's just get this over with so we can move in already." Fuyu said in defeat. They had not planned to _buy _a house. This is not what they planned.

"Ohh... well then let me get the agreement papers for you." The woman said. She rushed into the kitchen area and grabbed a thick stack of papers off the counter. She brought the papers, along with a pen, and one by one the girls all signed the contract.

"I swear this must be fate, this house was just put on the market today!" The woman said excitedly.

"Yeah no kidding! We were just passing by when our friend saw you putting the sign in the front yard." Aki said after she had finished signing.

"Alright, I think we're done. Now, is there anything we need to know about this house?" Fuyu asked.

"It's a little late to be asking that, eh?" Aki asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, aside from the stairs creaking a little, no, there is no damage or charismatic disorders with this house. Even the plumbing and the electric wiring are in perfect order." The woman said proudly.

"So then how come the owners moved?" Haru asked.

"The owners moved because of the husband's job. It required them to move farther north. Now are there any more questions? I realize you are all very anxious to move in." The woman asked.

"No, I think we're good." Natsu said.

"Okay then how soon can we expect you to move in? A couple of weeks, or months..."

"Today, preferably." Fuyu said, inspecting the ceiling for any hidden cracks or paint discoloring.

"Oh, okay. Just let me make a quick call to my clients." The woman said surprised. She quickly took out her cell phone and dialed her clients' number. In a few minutes though, she hung up and turned back to the group.

"Well my clients are absolutely thrilled that you bought the house and wish you the best of luck!"

"That's great. Now everyone come help unload the groceries." Fuyu said. The other three followed her lead and the saleswoman left the house shortly after. Remebering that she never got an answer to her question. The four _did_ seem too young to be buying a house...

"A sale is a sale, I guess." She mumbled as she drove away.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"We sure got a lot done today." Aki commented. She had just finished unpacking all of her belongings and was now laying in her new bed, staring at the ceiling.

"I need to go shopping tomorrow. I wonder who I can drag to the mall with me..." Aki wondered to herself. She left her room and walked downstairs to the living room where Natsu and Haru were watching t.v.

"Sooo guys. Who wants to go shopping wih me tomorrow?" Aki asked.

"Count me out." Haru said not even looking away from the screen.

"Me too. Tomorrow I'm going to go look for some new stuff for my room." Natsu said.

Pouting, Aki marched back up the stairs and let herself into Fuyu's room.

"Hey Fuyu will- "

"Sorry Aki, I can't go shopping with you. I need a new computer and tomorrow I plan on maybe getting an iPad. They look pretty cool. They have touch screen and so much..."

"Uhh... okay then." Aki said before she got sucked into Fuyu's 'geek talk'. She almost gave up hope when her cell phone started vibrating in her pocket.

_So how are you guys holding up? I hope the list I gave you guys helped :) - Tea_

Perfect.

* * *

**Okay, so I realize that this isn't the bestest chapter of all time, but I had to get it out because I don't know how long it will be until I can update again. I am trying to update everything but, ugh... busy schedule. If only you knew... Anyway hoped you enjoyed!**


	4. Ah, the Climax of Standard Living

**Heyy guys! Well, I don't think I have anything important to say or mention besides that I apologize about lateness, but what can you do? **

**I am so embarressed right not it's unreal. There are so many things I wish I could go back and change I feel like banging my head agianst a wall! Like Avery's name... I never changed it in the first chapter, I forgot to add the talk scene between Aki, Haru, and Natsu in chapter 2, and just so many other failures... I'll try to fix them (plus some other things) but I feel like such a failure right now... Hopefully I won't make any more mistakes like that in this or future chapters. Sorry everyone. Really. On top of this and being extremely late I feel really bad. **

**DiScLaImEr: I Do NoT OwNs YuGiOh! Or AnYtHiNg ThAt I DiD NoT CrEaTE On My OwN. EnJoY!**

Key:

_"blah" - New names_

"blah" - Original names

* * *

**.:The Next Day in Haru's POV:.**

I'm mad. I have a very good reason to be mad. Want to know why I'm mad? I'm mad because Natsu made pancakes and no one woke me up! Today is so backwards it's unreal! It is 9:30 in the morning and FUYU and AKI are awake (which is the first sign that the apocalypse is near), I slept in late (sign number 2), and everyone is awake and enjoying the sweet deliciousness of pancakes WITHOUT ME! I quickly jumped out of bed and stalked into the kitchen, where Natsu, Aki, and Fuyu were all having their nice little conversations while eating a portion of what should be digesting in my stomach right now. I stood there with my arms crossed over my chest and waited for them to notice me. I almost couldn't help but laugh at the current topic.

"I think it's unfair that you always get to cook. Why don't you guys ever let me cook for once?" Aki asked. Fuyu giggled and Natsu almost chocked on her pancake.

"We have let you cook before Aki, remember? You almost burnt down the- "

"THAT WAS ONE TIME! And it wasn't even my fault! Stupid fire spirits..." Aki mumbled, devouring another fork full of pancakes.

"Sure Aki... Oh mornin' Haru! What's wrong?" Natsu said finally noticing me. Aki and Fuyu turned and looked at me too. Aki waved since her mouth was full and Fuyu said "Hey." I was still mad though.

"Why didn't you guys wake me up?" I asked.

"We tried, but you wouldn't wake up." Fuyu said.

"Yeah right, you guys know I'm a light sleeper. There's no way you guys were trying to wake me up..." I said.

"It's true! The first time you didn't move, then the second time you told us you would be up in like five minutes, but then you didn't so we went in again and you were just mumbling crazy stuff, so we gave up." Aki said, talking with her mouth still full.

"Aki, that's gross, don't talk with your mouth full of food!" Fuyu scolded. Natsu shook her head probably wondering how these two ever got along. They were so alike, but so different...

"I was just defending ourselves..." Aki said after she swallowed her food.

"It's still gross. Anyway, there are still some pancakes left if you want 'em Haru." Fuyu offered, guestering to the big plate with about three or four pancakes still on it.

"Alright. So what are we doing today?" I asked as I sat down in the extra seat. The others looked to each other seeing if anyone had anything in partcualr in mind. Natsu spoke first.

"Well, if we didn't have anything in mind, I was going to go to the park and paint for a while..."

"I planned on goin' to check out an electronics store and a couple of mechanics shops I saw yesterday." Fuyu said.

"Me and Tea made plans to go shopping today." Aki admitted.

"You made plans to go shopping with Tea?" I asked her.

"That's what I just said." Aki said sarcastically with a smirk on her face.

"Heh. Good luck with that." I said. I didn't really care for Tea that much. Not that I had anything personal against her, but she's just too talkative for my liking. Aki is the same way, so she can deal with her. Just as long as I don't have to.

"Thanks for the well wishes, even though I know it's sarcasm." She replied.

"Never." I said with more sarcasm. She rolled her eyes at me, and Natsu jumped into the conversation.

"I know I should have thought of this earlier, but... how are we going to get everyone all over town like this? We can't spend all our money on cars, but we'll burn up too much gas a day driving around one lil' car, plus it's a rental so we really can't damage it without it costing us extra."

"Well maybe if we just get jobs... Then we can save for enough money to get our own vehicles." Fuyu mumbled. Aki made a look of pure disgust.

"Eww... The last thing I want to do is work with a bunch of humans."

"There's nothing else we can do, Aki. When we came here, we only had so much money. We're going to run low eventually, so we have to start making our own way. While you're at the mall you can apply for a job there. You like being surrounded by clothes anyway." Natsu continued.

"Yeah_, my _clothes..." Aki mumbled.

"You'll live, Aki, stop being such a wimp. I'll probably look for a job in fixing computers or something." Fuyu said, glaring at Aki for being lazy and complaining.

"I'll try to find a job as maybe a life guard at a pool or something." Natsu suggested.

"Life guards aren't really needed too much after school starts you know." I informed her.

"I know, but I think there are some clubs that have indoor pools that have life guards year-around." She said.

"Whatever, I'll just look around town and see what kind of openings they have." I said. I really wasn't too thrilled about getting a job, but you know, if Aki of all people is getting a job, I'm not going to look lazy in comparison. No offense to her that is.

"Well I'm gunna head out now. I don't want to be late." Aki said. She put her plate in the sink and hurried out of the door.

"I wonder how long it will take her to realize- "

"I CAN'T GO TO THE MALL IN PAJAMAS! DAMN I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS CRAP!"

Fuyu rubbed her temples as Aki rushed past the dining table and up the stairs to her bedroom. What a ditz...

About half an hour later, Aki ran down the stairs fully dressed this time, and shot out the door after shouting a quick goodbye to everyone.

Natsu, now sitting on the living room couch next to Fuyu, picked up the television remote and set the volume to mute. Fuyu and I looked to Natsu. She looked deep in thought, almost like a trance. I was afraid she was going to ask Fuyu about what happened with Aki, though I admit I was curious myself.

"Fuyu, if you want, I can drop you off at an electronics store before I go look for a job. Haru you too."

"Oh um, okay. Thanks Natsu." Fuyu said. It sounded like she was expecting something else like I was.

"I'll be fine. I'm just going to walk around town until I find something of interest." I replied. We would just be wasting time and gas if Natsu drove me all over town. I don't even know what kind of job I want anyway.

"Okay. Well it will probably be a good idea if we leave soon. The early bird catches the worm." Fuyu said, picking herself up from the couch.

"Yeah. Are you sure you don't want to come with us anyway, Haru? There's probably a better chance for you to find a job downtown, and that's quite a ways from here. Aki probably enjoys the workout, but you're not exactly... athletic, so to speak." Natsu remarked.

"Whatever... " I mumbled. I'm a gamer, I don't run, dance, workout, or any of that physical crap. Aki is persistant though with trying to convince me that 'feeling the burn' is wonderful, but it just sounds painful to me. Then seeing her sit in splits like it's nothing makes me hurt just seeing it. Gaming is my field of expertise and I enjoy it. No splits, leaps, dumbells, or 5k's involved. Maybe I can find a job at a gaming store. I'll text Aki later and ask her if there are any gaming stores at the mall.

Natsu chuckled and picked herself up from the couch. She started making her way towards the door and Fuyu and I followed close behind.

**.:Aki's POV:.**

You can call me crazy, but when I left the house I jogged all the way from the house to the mall in downtown Domino. To me, the workout felt good and much needed. Building up the stamina by running helps a lot with dancing too. If only I could make Haru, Fuyu, and Natsu feel that way. Haru would rather play Final Fantasy, Fuyu would rather tear apart machinery, and Natsu would rather paint a bowl of fruit or whatever. Heh. Different people, different interests.

It took me maybe twenty-five to thirty minutes to get to the mall. I met up with Tea after apologizing for being late and she showed me some of her favorite stores. She seemed fond of this store called Aeropostale, but I didn't see what she liked so much about this place. They charged like $30 for a tee shirt that just had the store's name written across it. No intricate design or anything special. Talk about highway robbery.

We passed through a few other stores and some had the strangest names, I mean _Hot Topic, Holister, Abercrombie & Fitch, Love Culture, Wet Seal _(which was my personal fave), _Forever XXI, Pac Sun, _I could go on... Either way I was satisfied with my purchases.

"Do you want to take a break and get some lunch?" Tea asked me after we walked out of _Victoria's Secret_, which was basically a store for over priced underwear. I'll never understand humans' judgement when pricing items. I would never guess that a piece of cloth or a blan tee shirt would cost so much...

"Sure." I stated just as my cell phone vibrated in my back pocket. I cursed the sender in my mind and shifted my shopping bags onto one arm so I could use my free hand to retrieve the small device. Haru had sent me a text message asking if there were any game stores hiring people. I slid the phone back into my pocket without responding and made my way to a Chinese themed food establishment and orderd some seseame chicken and some vegetable fried rice. I found an empty table by the railing of the second floor and started eating my food, waiting for Tea to come back.

I looked over the railing and watched as many of the shoppers busily went in and left store after store. There were many teenagers laughing in little huddled groups, older people who dressed like they were twenty-one, and under dressed and depressing-like people that made me wonder if they could even afford any of the stuff here, or if they were even interested in shopping. Such a diversity of people... it makes this world seem so much more complicated than it should be, and with such differences you would think there would be an uproar. But when I think about it, me, Haru, Fuyu, and Natsu are kinda, though it pains me to say it, a lot like these humans. We are all very different from each other, but we all get along well. Kind of amazing to me when I think of it that way, but it's also the reason that there are seperate countries and wars on this planet. These kings and queens and rulers are just like really big kids fighting over shiny toys.

Kings and queens...

"Sorry I took so long, but the line was really long!" I snapped out of my stupor and watched as Tea put her food and drink down onto the table and sat down across from me.

"No problem. By the way, do you know any game shops that are hiring in town?" I asked Tea, remembering Haru's earlier request.

"Game shops? You're looking for a job in a game shop? No offense, but you don't really look like the type of person who- "

"Not for me! Uh, _Kara_ wanted me to ask. She's the one looking for the job." I explained, cutting her off.

Tea laughed at my reaction and took a sip from her soft drink, "I see, well we could drop by the Kame Game Shop and ask Yugi's grandfather if they have any openings after we're done here. I bet they could use an extra hand or two to help with the shop."

"Sounds good to me. _Kara _would really like that." More like _I_ would really like that. I know Fuyu wouldn't agree, but I really want to see Yugi again, not specifically for Yugi, but to see if I can trigger anything from Atem. I just need to know he's really there and that I'm not completely wasting my time with this kid. The Time Catalog has it inscripted that they shared a body, but it never explained to me if Atem ever regained his memories, or _when_. He may not ever remember me again, and though Fuyu thinks that it is a good thing, it is very depresssing to me. Fuyu doesn't fool me when she tries to pretend that Set forgetting about her doesn't affect her either. I know it pains her like it does me.

"By the way _Kura_, I wanted to ask you something." Tea started.

"Hm?" I responded.

"I still remember watching you dance at the studio the other day, and I've always wanted to ask where you learned to dance like that. Your moves were so exotic, it was really beauiful." She asked me. I anticipated something that would require me to make up an entire backstory on the spot or something, but this works too.

"Oh I didn't really learn anywhere, I just picked up on a lot of things over the years and do a lot of improv(1) in my spare time." I replied.

Tea's jaw nearly dropped hearing my response. Maybe it was because I didn't learn in a traditional dance studio that caught her off guard. But it's not like there aren't self-learners out there, 'cuz there are plenty that turned out great and accomplished a lot. Human or not.

"That's amazing! You should take classes at the dance studio with me! The instructors would love to have you perform in recital. You could even get invited to perform with a professional company." She said. It _did_ sound appealing... to be on stage. But when would I have time for this?

"I'll think about it. Are you ready to go?" I asked. She nodded her head and we both got up to threw away the left overs and left the mall, all shopping bags accounted for. I doubted Tea wanted to run all the way to Kame Game Shop, so we got into her car and she drove us there and parked in front of the little shop.

I got out of the passenger's seat and followed Tea into the shop. The sign in the shop door said 'closed', but Tea walked in casually like she didn't see it. We were greeted by a bell that chimed when we came in. The chime felt welcoming to me, it was something that I had always liked about small businesses.

"Yugi! Mr. Motou! Is anyone home?" Tea called out. When no response came, she looked to me with an apologetic expression. " Let's go see if they're in the back."

I nodded my head in response and followed her to the back of the shop. Behind that door must be where Yugi and his grandfather live. Tea knocked on the door and turned the knob. I kind of felt nervous to see what the place looked like. Atem does live here after all...

"I bet they're having lunch in the kitchen. It's through here." Tea said pointing toward a door on the right side of the short corridor we were standing in. I could see some of the living room at the end of the hall, but I followed Tea into the kitchen. It was a decent size, and the appliances were updated. There was even a cute island in the middle of the room with some bar stools in front of it. Against the right wall though, there was a table that could fit four people and two of those places were currently occupied by Yugi and his grandfather, who looked as if they had just finished their meal. Tea waved me closer to the table and Yugi looked genuinely happy when he saw me, and I was happy to be closer to Atem again.

"Hey _Kura. _What's up?" Yugi greeted me. I smiled, not sure if it was for him or Atem. It had to be for Atem because Yugi looked so much like him. Right?

"Hey Yugi. Not much really. Still getting used to things around here." I replied.

"Actually, _Kara _wanted to know if she could apply for a job here at the shop, Mr. Motou." Tea admitted.

"So you want a job here, is that right young lady?" Yugi's grandfather asked me. Was he hard of hearing? Tea clearly said _Kara _and not _Kura._

"Um, no sir! I'm _Kura, _my friend _Kara _wants a job here. She's really good at games and she can work full time." I corrected him. Maybe when he meets Haru, he'll see how different we are and hopefully won't get us mixed up as often. It would be easier if we didn't have to use fake names...

The old man seemed to take my words into consideration and mumbled something that I couldn't make out. Yugi smiled at me for encouragement, but I tried to focus on reading Mr. Motou's expression.

"Yugi, do you know this girl?" Mr. Motou asked.

"Uh, yeah grandpa. _Kura _and her friends are the ones we hung out with yesterday, remember? I think it would be a good idea to hire her. You could use the extra help while I'm at school anyway." Yugi said, winking in my direction. I smiled in response to his helpfulness. Haru owes me big time.

"Well if you think it's a good idea then that's okay with me. She can start tomorrow at 8:30 am." Mr. Motou decided. After that, he picked himself from his spot at the table and left mumbling something about trading cards that needed to be restocked. After he left, I sighed a breath of relief.

"Thanks for helping out Yugi. _Kara _will be really happy since she likes all those games and such." I said.

"No problem. Oh, that reminds me! I told you I would teach you how to play Duel Monsters didn't I?" Yugi said smirking. I almost forgot about his offer he made at the restaurant...

"Haha that's right! Maybe you'll end up being really good at it_, Kura_." Tea encouraged me, patting me on the back.

"Well... I'll try, but I can't promise that I'll be any good at it..." I trailed off. The two laughed at my expense and tried to assure me that I would be fine. But I knew better. I was so screwed.

**.:Haru's POV:.**

I sent a text message to Aki and asked her if there were any game shops hiring because for the past hour and a half, Natsu has been driving me around town trying to help me find a job. She said she could always look for a job tomorrow, but honestly, I don't think it's worth it because I doubt there's really anything in this city for me. I know Fuyu would have no problem getting a job dealing with computers because she's really good at that stuff. I have no idea what kind of job Aki will end up getting, she's usually random about that kind of thing. Natsu still wants to be a life guard, so that just leaves me.

"This is pointless. Let's just go by the club and I'll look for a job tomorrow." I said. We've been to maybe seven places already and none of those places settled right with me. I'd rather just wait for Aki to reply and-

_ring... ring... ring..._

I pulled out my cell phone and flipped it open to read the message sent to me. It was from Aki. Thank the gods.

_Heyy, I got you a job at the Kame Game Shop. You start tomorrow at 8:30 am. Tell Natsu physcal thearapists make more money than life guards. Tea told me that. She can stretch out all of my sores for free now lolz :D_

"Well that's convinent." I commented out loud.

"What is?" Natsu asked. I told her what Aki had sent in the message and she smirked. Not much longer, I got another text message from Fuyu. I opened up the message and my eyes widened with shock when I was finished reading.

_I know you guys will never believe this, but... I just got hired by KaibaCorp. Aki is going to have a fit lol. Do you think I'll live?_

"What does that one say?" Natsu questioned.

"Fuyu just got hired by KaibaCorp. Aki is gunna throw a fit when she finds out that she is working for Yugi's arch rival." I replied.

"Those two are gunna end up killing each other one day." Natsu scoffed. I looked at the device still in my hand and typed a response to Fuyu's unanswered question.

_We're gunna miss you :'(_

I closed the little device and relaxed in my seat. Natsu said that since I was taken care of, she was going to go try out for a job as a physical therapist.

**.~.~.~.~.~.~.**

Natsu parked the car in front of a large building called "Happy Feet Therapy." I followed behind her into the building and I sat down in one of the lobby chairs while she talked to the woman at the desk. I looked around and I saw a lot of crippled humans and family members who were there to support them. That's one of the things I like about humans. Even though they're human, they still have a sense of love and kindness towards one another... When they're not fighting over fallen crumbs that is.

Natsu walked back from the desk holding a small stack of papers and a pen. She answered a couple of questions that probably consisted of her name (fake of course), date of birth, special talents, etc. etc.

"What should I put down for experiences?" Natsu asked me in hushed tone.

"Um... I dunno. Just say you've helped a lot of dancers' injuries or something. You can put Aki down as one of your 'clients' or whatever." I responded.

"Okay, that works." About fifthteen minutes later, Natsu finished filling out the paperwork and brought them back to the desk. The woman smiled at her and talked to her for another twenty minutes. I guess she had to talk to her more to make sure she was legit. Which of course she wasn't, but she was goddess so it didn't matter. It almost feels like we're cheating these poor humans.

**.:Back at the Goddesses' House in Fuyu's POV:.**

I guess it was around 7:30-ish when Natsu and Haru came to pick me up from the KaibaCorp main building. I still can't believe how lucky I got to get this job. All I did was help a couple of kids fix their duel disks. I'm not even completely sure what a 'duel disk' is used for, but I'm pretty good with wiring and stuff so it wasn't anything I couldn't handle.

I was in the middle of an interview with the manager of a pretty big electronics and appliances store when his son interrupted us and whined about how his duel disk was broken. Apparently the holographics weren't working properly because he said he "couldn't see the monsters." I wanted to take a look at it out of curiosity so I asked his son to bring me the said item and show me exactly what he was talking about. There were two parts on the duel disk that shot out and they were suppose to create a realistic holograph of whatever card he put onto the machine on his arm. I looked at each part of the machine and saw that somehow a bunch of wires were crossed. So I fixed everything and the next thing I know, a bunch of the kid's friends all run up to me asking me to fix all of theirs. The manager laughed at me, and the more of these kids' toys I fixed, the madder I got. I see advertisements all over the freaking city about how great this company is, but obviously something's up if they're all breaking.

In fact, even after I had fixed all of those duel disks I got directions to the KaibaCorp building and basically stormed into the front office and asked the receptionist who was in charge of manufacturing. She told me he wasn't in his office and asked if she could take a message. Apparently my voice echoed in the office because while I was ranting about all the problems I had to fix, the guy who I guess was in charge of manufacturing asked if he could talk to me in his office. He said he was just coming back from his lunch break when he overheard my ranting. I restated all of the issues with the duel disks, but he told me that there was no way anything under KaibaCorps name could have any complications like that. Like hell! That guy sounded so arrogant when he said it too, as if he was perfect, but he's human and humans are not perfect. Not even Natsu, Haru, Aki, or I are perfect.

Usually I'll keep a calm head in situations like this, but this guy was seriously ticking me off. Especially with the cocky attitude. So started raising my voice at him, he raised his, and I'm not quite sure when Seto Kaiba came into the picture, but he stood there in the doorway and the guy I was yelling at stopped immediately. My back was to him so I was confused when he stopped all of a sudden, and when I turned to see what he was staring at, Seto stood there with a really irritated look on his face. I'm not sure what I was scared of most, the look he was giving his employee, or the fact that I recognized him from a past life. Seriously, I'm not sure coming back to Earth was a good move. This all gives me really bad paranoia.

For a short while the room was completely silent. The atmosphere became heavy while Seto stared at me, I stared at him, and his employee stared at us staring at each other. The feeling was awkward. However, I think it was completely one-sided because I couldn't find any hint of recognition of me in his eyes, but then again even in his past life he had always been able to hide his true feelings well.

The guy who had just been acting all high and mighty and denying all of my claims suddenly became nervous and hestated when he asked Kaiba why he was here. kaiba simply stated that his secretary had reported a disturbance and he came to check it out personally. He looked to me and asked me why I was here, and I explained, for the millionth time, every little thing that I repeatedly found wrong with the manufactoring of the duel disks and how his employee was denying everything I said without even checking it out for himself. Unlike him, kaiba actually listened to me and the three of us went into a part of the building where a lot of machinery was being made. It was like heaven! We walked out towards where the duel disks were being transported and Kaiba randomly picked up one of the devices, even though one of the workers had warned him it would mess up the packaging procedure or whatever. Kaiba glared at him and he backed off immediately. Scary boss.

The guy who was head of manufactoring was breathing unevenly next to me. He was nervous. Good. That's what he gets for acting so arrogant towards me earlier. Kaiba looked to me before he started to open up the bottom of the disk. He analyzed the device for a long time, his face becoming more and more aggravated. Without even saying a word, he held the duel disk in front of the man's face and raised an eyebrow at him. He looked at it closely but kept a confused look on his face, not understanding what the problem was. In fact, the idiot asked for an explanation. I already gave him a freaking explanation! I've already told him a miliion freaking time what was wrong with that stupid toy, and he still has the ordosity to ask again?

He better thank the gods too, because before I had a chance to beat him senseless, Kaiba did what I had done earlier and told him off. Eventually, the ranting lead to the retard getting fired from his job. After that, Kaiba had apologized and somehow along the lines we got into a very detailed coversation about a new stadium he wanted to build in Domino and I ended up getting hired as the new head of manufactoring for KaibaCorp. It happened so fast, I'm still in shock. Now I have to go home and get murdered mercilessly by Aki who is going to have a heart attack when I tell her the news. It's not like she has anything against him or anything, trust me, but if she gets it in her head that something could potientially come between her and Atem, then she doesn't take to it very well. We just pulled into the drive way too...

Natsu and Haru said they prayed to Lady Luck for me, but that didn't put me at ease. I mean, I know how to handle Aki, I can calm her down and make her see this as a good thing. Maybe I can even bait her with another shopping spree with the new high salary I'll be making now. The only problem is that when she gets into a bad mood and she's arguing, it's kind of hard to fight back. That's the only part I have any difficult with, but I know how to cushion the impact. Just make sure to look her straight in the eyes and not look fazed, that's all it really takes.

The three of us came in through the front door, and Aki was already home, chatting on the phone with Tea I suppose. She heard the door close and quickly said goodbye to Tea and put the phone back on its cradle.

"Hey guys! How was the job hunt? Did you take my advice about the physical therapist Natsu?"

"Yeah. Now at least there wll be two of us making a good income! Right Fuyu?" Natsu said turning to me. She mouthed the words "Tell her" but I wanted to prolong my answer for a little longer.

"Yeah. By the way, did you ever find a job Aki?" I asked, changing the topic. Maybe I would try to tell her after dinner.

"Well... yes and no. Tea mentioned something to me about maybe being a dance instructor, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow when they're open to apply." She admitted. It sounded like a fitting job for her. The pay isn't too bad either.

"That's sounds perfect for you! You can dance for hours and get payed for it!" Natsu said.

"I know right! The humans are in for a real workout! They'll all be straight as a board when I'm done with 'em haha!" Aki said with a smirk on her face. I believed every word she said too.

"Anyway, so what kind of job did you get Fuyu? You're probably already the manager of a really big company aren't you?" Aki continued. Her smirk grew deeper and she waited for my response. Crap. I'd rather wait until after dinner when things won't be so tense.

"Yeah... something like that." I responded. Aki raised her eyebrow, but before she could ask any further questions, Haru stepped into the conversation.

"So, who's ready for dinner?"

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"You're working for WHO? Are you out of your mind? First off, you tell me not to go near Yugi because of Atem, but then you go behind my back and get a job at KAIBACORP? Traitor..." Aki yelled after I had pulled her aside in my bedroom to tell her the news. Like I said earlier, she was hard to fight with, especially with a point like that, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. I'll just compromise. But first, to calm her down...

"It's not like I really meant for it to happen," I insisted, waving my hands in front of me in an innocent gesture. I smiled sheepishly, but that didn't seem to work. Before she spoke again, I explained how I ended up at KaibaCorp. in the first place.

"But you still took the job, you accepted. He isn't _forcing_ you to work for him!" She retorted, but I wasn't done yet.

I took a deep breath, "I heard you've going to be spending time with the Pharaoh. Haru told me about the gameshop." Aki tensed, she probably didn't think that would get around to me so fast. Still, I had my ways.

"It's different." She stated firmly. I shook my head.

"You're still spending time with him. He isn't _forcing _you." I said mimicking her tone, and her anger welled up again.

"It's a card game, Fuyu. You're freaking working for the man!" She yelled, and I was forced to look away.

There was silence, and then I said, "What does it matter anyway. It's not like our fighting is going to stop either one of us from crossing paths with the other. We've already entangled our fates with theirs. The only thing we can do is hope it doesn't blow up in our faces."

Aki refused to say anything and couldn't even look me in the eyes. At least she isn't fighting back anymore, but the silence makes me feel uneasy. I was about to say something to try to ease the tension, but she beat me to it.

"So... What do we do now?"

"I don't know. It might be best if-" I was cut off when I heard the door open. It was Haru and Natsu. What were they doing in here?

"What are you two doing here?" Aki asked bluntly. Never the subtle one...

"We need to talk. About you." Natsu stated firmly. I looked over to Aki and she scowled at Natsu. Of all times, why now? I just got Aki to calm down too, and if this is about what I think it is...

Then this is going to be a long night.

* * *

**So uh.. yeah sorry I had to end the chapter here, but it was getting really long and I've been anxious to update. Like REALLY anxious! Eloquent Nocturne will probably kill me for stopping here, and I will probably be recieving those many death threats from her shortly... Anyways, hopefully next chapter will be up sooner-ish, maybe. I hope so. Yeash.. I hate when I get a lot of inspiration for a fic, but then I realize I can't use _any _of it until later... It sucks man, it really does DX**

_*YES! I am going to kill you for stopping there! Coffee! HOT, SCOLDING, BLACK, SUGARLESS COFFEE. I'm going to force it down your throat! ~ Eloquent Nocturne  
_

**In other notes: Dno't froegt to reivew!**

**Other Stuff I Almost Forgot About:**

**(1): Well hopefully you can already guess what Improv is, but just in case, all it is basically where you play a song... and you dance to it. No set choreography involed either. JUST GOTTA LET YOUR SOUL BE FREE! Hahaha sorry, I got a little carried away with that ^^;**


	5. Oh Please, Get a CLUE!

**.:Fuyu's POV (cont.):.**

"About me?" Aki repeated harshly. Dammit Natsu, why now?

"Yeah. I think you've been holding out on us for quite some time now." Natsu said, eyes beaming.

"Oh really? And just what do you think I'm hiding from you, Natsu? This better be pretty damn good because I'm not in the best of moods at the moment." Aki demanded.

"Fine. Then let's cut to the chase," Natsu said stepping closer to Aki, "What happened when you and Fuyu were sent to Egypt five thousand years ago?"

At that moment the room went cold. The look on Aki's face told me she was deciding whether to strangle Natsu or go into panic mode. This involved me too, so I had to try to help. "How are we supposed to remember something that happened that long ago, Natsu? And what is it your business what happened? This doesn't involve either you or Haru."

"Fuyu, we're not ignorant to that, but we know Aki messed with the Time Catalog. We're just hurt that our best friends would go out of their way hide something from us. Did you guys really think we'd judge you?" Haru accused. I waited for Aki to assure them we wouldn't hide anything important from them, and that we weren't hiding anything, but she never did. She stayed silent. Nothing bad happened in Egypt, I know that much, but why was Aki acting like this?

Was there something she didn't even want to tell me?

"Aki... tell them nothing happened." I whispered, poking her in the rib. Aki bit her bottom lip and slightly nodded her head.

"Nothing happened. That Yugi guy just happens to look a lot like a human I met in Egpyt and it brings back some memories best left buried. That's it." Aki said.

"What kind of memories?" Natsu asked.

"The kind you remember." Aki said sarcastically. Her anger was working back up. I didn't like seeing her angry, but it was better than her previous state, in which had resembled a hollow shell.

"This isn't the time to be a smart ass, Aki. If nothing happened then there's nothing to be secretive about." Haru said.

"If nothing happened, then there's nothing to tell, Haru. So technically, this entire conversation is utterly pointless. Good night!" Aki said dismissively. She strutted towards the door, but Natsu grabbed her by the shoulders to prevent her from leaving.

"Let go of me, Natsu." Aki said in a low voice, but you could still feel the acid in her words.

"Tell us what happened." Natsu said, but not as demanding.

"I thought we came to the conclusion that nothing happened."

"That's a load of bull crap, Aki. Does Fuyu know what happened? If you don't want to tell us maybe she will."

"Fuyu doesn't know anything. You're wasting your time and mine."

What? Something _I_ don't know? Aki _has_ to be lying so that Natsu and Haru won't harass me, right? Right?

Natsu must have seen my shocked expression from across the room because she released Aki. She took a step back to put some space between them and sighed audibly. Haru and I watched them curiously. The two just stared at each other for a while, creating an awkward tension in the room. Aki shook her head slightly and sidestepped around Natsu,reaching the door. She walked out into the hallway and closed the door behind her, not looking back. Her footsteps could be heard down the hallway and there was an awkward tension in the air until we heard her bedroom door close.

"What really happened, Fuyu?" Natsu asked immediately.

"I... I really don't know... what she's talking about, I mean. I don't remember any important events that you two don't already know about. I mean, you guys already know that when Aki and I were younger, the higher up gods sent us there and forced us to spend a lifetime as regular humans because we stole a transfiguration mirror from Aki's father. I doubt there's anything worth worrying about. Aki was probably just being defensive... you know how she is." I said, more to myself than her.

"Are you sure there isn't anything that we need to know?" Natsu asked, locking eyes with me.

"I'm pretty sure we've told you everything. I can't imagine keeping anything from you..." I replied.

"Alright. Let's drop it for now. It's getting late." Haru said. Natsu nodded her head and murmured a soft apology before exiting the room with Haru on her heels.

After they left, I sighed in relief and laid down on my bed. A lot of things about that conversation still bothered me. Namely Aki's reactions and words. _"Fuyu doesn't know anything. You're wasting your time and mine." _She made it seem as if she really was hiding something... and from _me_! Impossible. We never hide anything from each other, no matter how hard it is for the other to hear. Perhaps she was trying to cover for her strange attitude around Yugi. I already knew about that though... Maybe she was just being defensive because of how riled up our previous argument had left her before Natsu and Haru had interrupted.

_"Fuyu doesn't know anything."_

What did you mean?

**.:The next morning at KaibaCorp:.**

So this morning, nobody spoke to each other since it was just Natsu, Haru, and me. Aki left a note early this morning saying that she was going to meet up with Tea again and go apply for a job as a dance instructor. Since we still only had one car (which will change as soon as I get my next paycheck), Natsu dropped me off at the KaibaCorp building and I went straight to work. Figures this job isn't as easy as I thought it would be. This company has hundreds of connections with other companies and countries, and then you have to approve different requests to a bunch of branches of business that I never knew even existed. If it hadn't been for Kaiba's secretary, who was sent in to show me the basics, I would be screwed and probably fired by now. She left plenty of notes as we went through stuff, but even after she left it took me about an hour to get the hang of it all.

It was nearing lunch time when I decided to text Aki and ask her if she wanted to eat lunch with me. She texted me back and told me about a Chinese buffet she wanted to try, so I looked up the directions, and luckily for me it was within walking distance. I really didn't want to have to call Natsu to give me a lift because I wanted to talk to Aki privately. I trust her, I really do, but I have to ask her about last night so I can get it off my conscience. Even if it turns out she was hiding something... I'll be there for her like I always have.

About half an hour later, I left the building and walked down block to the restaurant Aki had mentioned before. Aki showed up a couple minutes after me and a waiter led us to a table out of hearing range from the other customers, which I was thankful for. The waiter took our drink orders and left us to serve ourselves at the buffet. Of course, Aki stacked her plate with meats and vegetable fried rice, and I filled mine with sweet and sour chicken. Our drinks arrived shortly after we returned and we thanked our waiter.

"So Aki... I was hoping-" I started off, but Aki had other plans. She held her hand up to cut me off while she took a quick sip of her drink.

"Yeah yeah, I know what you want. I didn't come here thinking I was getting a free meal, ya know."

She sighed and looked down at her food. I waited for her to answer my unspoken question, but then she started giggling and smiling. What was that supposed to mean?

"What's so funny?"

"It's nothing. It's just that I'm a little nervous, I guess. I wanted to tell you this sooner, but it's not exactly something to sneeze at..."

"What happened? It can't be that bad, huh?"

"Well... I told _him_ my _real _name."

"Aki... how could you! Do you know what could happen to you if the higher ups found out?"

"Yeah, trust me I know. Why do you think I haven't told anyone?"

"But... you could have trusted me."

"I know! I was just scared to death to tell people. I had to calm myself down and clear my mind before I told anyone, or I would end up breaking down. Not that Natsu helped much... my emotions were already high and I think I would have either broke down or killed her."

"Yeah, but this is _huge_ Aki. What if he had used it against you?" I asked. I already knew how she felt about the Pharaoh, but that doesn't mean he's not capable of using her name against her, against all of us.

She was silent for a moment, keeping her hands in her lap, staring at some unknown pattern in the wood of the table. And then, in a small voice, she said, "I trusted him completely. He knew what I was without me telling him. He held a dark, ancient magic within him, and my name was the only thing left hidden from him."

"He could control you," I stated. I hated doing this, I did, but if I didn't get this through to her now, I never would. And if Atem remembered, if he wasn't like he was in the past... then we could be in serious trouble. Not only would the higher ups figure out that someone was controlling spring, and the power that came with being a goddess, but it could also cause major destruction if any of our names were learned by the wrong people.

"I know."

"You could be punished severely for this, even put in isolation," I said. Why was she being so quiet? So reserved?

"...I know."

"So what are we going to do?" I asked, focusing my gaze. We'd have to figure this out, even if I hated the circumstances of the situation.

"I don't know." She said. Her fingers started gliding softly across the table, tracing the odd patterns of the wood.

"I think you should try staying away from Yugi. I know I've said it before, but I honestly think that's our safest bet."

She did that thing where she bit her lip again. Honestly, I believed she completely trusted the Pharaoh, but he doesn't remember what he was like anymore.

"I... I can try. It's so hard to stay away from him after all these years though... I still feel that pull towards him." Aki sighed in defeat, I felt bad for her. Even though she rarely spoke of him, there was plenty of evidence that she was thinking about him constantly. Which reminds me...

"Aki, where is the bracelet Atem gave you? Do you still have it?"

Aki thought for a moment, and then began searching rapidly through her purse. She pulled out an object made of pure gold and various gems, glinting violently in the little light of the restaurant. It wove around her wrist and looped around her left ring finger. She held up her arm to display the item. The bracelet had been something the Pharaoh had given her before a great monster had attacked Egypt. According to Aki, Atem promised her something, but soldiers were shouting orders to escort them out of the palace. It was too chaotic to understand what he'd said.

I looked up for a closer look, to get a better glimpse of the intricate designs. The bracelet was thick around her small wrist and had two thin, golden strings that stretched across her hand to two golden rings around her finger. The rings had some sort of strange Egyptian writing wrapping around it. The band of the bracelet was shaped into the eye of Horus and a large emerald fit inside, which I figured was supposed to represent Aki's true eye color. She smiled as she showed it me, and even twisted her own arm around to admire it herself.

"Hm... doesn't seem like there's any magic within it..." I muttered.

"Of course there isn't. Why would there be magic in it? Fuyu! Atem would never try to use magic against me! How could you think that?" Aki fumed. I could tell that she was upset, though there was still a trace of relief in her eyes.

"I was just making sure there wasn't a charm spell or anything that could forcibly be drawing you to him." I said in my defense. Was it my fault that I often thought of different scenarios? It didn't mean that I wanted any of them to be true.

"Well there isn't. Happy now?"

"Don't be so defensive. I'm just looking out for you. Speaking of magic, do you sense that?" I asked, shifting my eyes around the room. At first I thought the magic had been radiating from the bracelet, but since it isn't, I have a feeling someone else with powerful magic may be nearby.

"Now that you mention it yeah, I do. It's obviously not coming from my bracelet, but it feels close." Aki admitted swiftly checking the room, though her eyes seemed to stay in one general direction. "I think we have unwanted company. Looks like we've run into an old friend of yours."

I shot her a puzzled look, and she nodded two tables down from us. I couldn't see his face, but I could recognize that messy hair anywhere. Getting a better feel for the magic, I realized that there seemed to be two different auras surrounding him. Though the two were not evenly matched, there was a dark aura suffocating the lighter one. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

"Bakura..." I murmured under my breath.

Aki took a sip from her glass before smirking,"Looks like are our little circle of friends just keeps getting bigger and bigger everyday."

**.~.~.~.Haru's POV.~.~.~.**

So, I found out working at the game shop isn't as bad as I thought. During school hours, business is slow so it gives me more time to think. I still have my suspicions that we are being followed, stalked. I didn't sense any trace of magic at the hotel so I'm almost certain it isn't a spy sent from the Higher Ups, but then again, it's not like using humans to do their dirty work was uncommon for them in the past.

For all I know, it could just be some freak human who followed one of us there. However, considering the circumstances, I can't allow he/she/it to get too close. They may hear or see some things that are not meant for them.

There still seems to be a lot of drama going on right now, so I think I'll keep this theory to myself for the time being. Which reminds me, Natsu was acting strange this morning. Instead of chattering and laughing like normal, she just spoke quietly to herself. Fuyu must have been engulfed in her own thoughts too, because she didn't seem to notice that Natsu irritably crumpled up the note Aki left on the fridge door this morning. It was obvious Natsu is still pretty pissed at Aki for last night. I'm a little disappointed myself, but it's Aki's personal business. I don't think it's a good idea to force someone to tell you something they don't want to, but I also get the feeling that this little piece of information we're missing will come back to bite us later on.

Natsu seems desperate to find out what happened and I don't think she's given up just yet. I fear that she's going to try something illegal. If she deems the information valuable enough, then she may try to probe Aki's memories while she's asleep. I truly hope not because there's a lot that could go wrong. It's a strong spell, but Aki is powerful enough to push her out if she detects it.

Then, if she gets defensive, the spell may rebound and Aki may try to use that as a way to cause mental distortion on Natsu. For all we know, she may even purposely change her memories temporarily just to throw her off. Natsu would have to be more than careful if she does decide to do it. And by the gods, I hope she doesn't because not only would Natsu be betraying Aki's trust and respect, but she may end up starting an all out war. A gods' war. Which would mean that sides would have to be chosen and a lot of lives would be lost. And between Aki and Natsu, I don't think I'm ready to choose between them.

* * *

**And scene! Sorry to cut it off here, but it really has been far too long since I last updated anything. I know it's really short, but at least it's not boring, or at least to me it's not.. Oh wells! If you haven't totally forgotten about this fic, great! It'd be totally awesomesauce if you guys reviewed, just putting that out there..**


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